Camp Redwood
by wackystrings123
Summary: Gabriella hates Troy, but what happens when they become cabin buddies while attending Camp Redwood in CA, will feelings blosom? The chapter is a lot longer than my usual chapters. R&R. TROYELLA, CHAYLOR ZEKEPAY.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm not very happy with this story, so I decided to redo some parts. I noticed that it's been dragging and it doesn't really make sense. But it won't, at least I hope it won't affect the rest of the story. So enjoy!**

Sharpay Evans sat on the edge of her seat, her chin cupped in her hand, her light anticipation-filled hazel eyes following the rhythmic movement of the large human sized clock. Her upper lip twitched in anger every time the large woman in translucent silvery shawls glided across her view of the clock. Sharpay snarled in annoyance as the white haired woman decided to position herself right in front of the clock.

_Stupid old hag!_ she silently cursed the elderly lady. Sharpay actually adored the dramatic woman, most of the time. But today she was just a nuisance getting in the way of Sharpay and Time!

Deciding to abandon staring at a clock that moved too slowly, Sharpay let her eyelids drop and silently began chanting, "Come on" impatience evident in her voice. The sound of the bell was drowned by the loud screams and cheers of joy.

Summer had officially begun!

* * *

"School's finally out!" Sharpay squealed, throwing her manicured hands in the air as she walked out of the doors of East High with her best, trying to dodge the many students who were scrambling out of the doors of the school, happiness written all over their faces, for the last day of school had finally come, now it was summer time. Sharpay pushed a lock of her straight blonde hair from her face and looked towards her best friend, Taylor Mckessie as she spoke.

Taylor picked up her suit-case-like-back pack as the descended the steps. Dropping it once they were at the bottom she tutted at Sharpay,

"Yes, I can, plus, you've been saying that for the past fifteen minutes, how could I forget," she looked at Sharpay, "Three cheers for Sharpay!" she teased before putting on a serious face, "In the eye of a scientist, the word 'summer' is the term given to 'no school'. Summer is the time of the year when students run around, wild and crazy, instead of taking time to look back on the work that they've done during the school year, which is why we have low intellectual students at East High." Taylor explained smartly, ignoring Sharpay's bored face. She pointed to a teacher who was scolding a student for spraying a whole can of _wackystrings _on him. "See." She looked at Sharpay who was now texting God-knows-who.

"Are you even listening?" Taylor snapped impatiently. Laughing at a newly received text message, Sharpay shook her head subconsciously. Taylor groaned from the back of her throat before grabbing Sharpay's free wrist and pulling her across the green freshly mowed lawn, to the side walk. She smiled as she spotted her other best friend, Gabriella Montez, standing close by.

Gabriella was leaning against Sharpay's pink convertible, her brown eyes staring at something, overwhelmed with curiosity, anger and some other things. Taylor and Sharpay followed her gaze and rolled their eyes as they realized what, or more like whom, she was staring at.

The school hottie, Troy Bolton.

Troy was every girls dream. He had shaggy brown hair, the body of an athlete, and the bluest eyes you could ever imagine. But to Gabriella, those eyes were a mystery. She knew there was something beneath them, something dark and well kept and she planned to find out what. He winked sexily at her, causing her to gasp. And yes another thing, he was the schools player—well world's largest egotistical, self centered, jerko-freakenstein, a long list of insults—in Gabriella's book, and it was a pretty huge book too.

She glared at him and looked away; she was the only girl that attended East High, and Albuquerque, who didn't fall under his charm. Sharpay and Taylor did at first until they found out he was a jerk, thanks to Gabriella's unstoppable rants, and playing them both at the same time. Troy smirked at Gabriella as he noticed her fuming. She took a step forward ready to go and give him a piece of her mind, and not literally. Taylor and Sharpay grabbed her upper arms and held her back before she could take another step.

"Stop staring at him, El. People will start thinking you actually like him." Sharpay warned. Gabriella blew a strand of her ebony curls from her face and sent Troy one last glare before turning back to face her friends.

"Especially… _Anisa_." Taylor spat the name as if it tasted vile in her mouth.

"There's just something about his eyes." Gabriella explained, staring at the blue summer sky. Sharpay raised an eyebrow at her,

"You really need to see a therapist," she joked, then continued, "The only thing beneath those eyes is a cold, deep, and dark hole."

"You're talking about the heart." Taylor corrected her. Sharpay just shrugged lazily.

"I cannot believe that you guys are leaving me to suffer two whole months here, while you go off to some summer camp, in California." Gabriella complained, changing the subject.

"We'll write and call every single day, promise." Taylor reassured her. Gabriella nodded unconvinced.

"What time are you leaving?" she asked as Sharpay unlocked the doors to her pink convertible and slid into the driver's seat, Gabriella hopped into the back seat and Taylor took to the front seat.

"The plane leaves at five." Taylor replied as Sharpay reversed out of the school parking lot.

All through the drive, they talked on and on, about different things, that would take too long to write.

Sharpay stopped in front of a 2-story suburban house, with rhododendrons growing on the sides of the neatly cut grass. Gabriella grabbed her backpack before hopping out of the car and waving to her two friends as Sharpay drove off. Gabriella ran up the front steps of her home and unlocked the front door, before stepping in.

_Worst summer of all summers, here I come!_ She thought bitterly.

**A/N: Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the last chapter, I accidently posted it. Enjoy.**

Gabriella unlocked the front door and steeped into the large suburban house. She groaned, this was the first summer that she would be all alone. Her ebony curls cascaded over her face as she silently tiptoed up the stairs and into her room.

She flung her backpack onto her four poster bed and dragged her feet to the bathroom. S he had been so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn`t noticed the two suitcases sitting on her bed, with a brochure lying on top.

She returned to her room after changing into a comfortable sweat suit. She wasn`t one to go jogging, but she felt the need to clear her head. As she scanned the room for her favorite scrunchie, her mocha orbs landed on the suitcases and her heart leapt into her throat.

She crossed her fingers and cautiously neared the suitcases.

Her fragile fingers picked up the familiar, neatly folded brochure. It was the same brochure she`d seen most of the students at East high holding.

She slowly opened it and a small paper fell out and slithered on to the floor. Bending down, she picked it up and unfolded it to reveal her mother`s familiar handwriting. She eyes skimmed through the note and rested on the phrase that caused her breath to hitch in her tiny throat.

"_You`re going to Camp Redwood."_

She felt a scream build up in her throat as she fled down the stairs.

She decided to play cool as she neared the kitchen. She nearly tripped over her feet in excitement.

"Hello mother, father." She spoke in a posh voice. Carlos Montez looked up from his newspaper, his hazel eyes were twinkling.

"Hey, darling, how was your last day of school?" he queried casually. Unable to contain herself any longer, Gabriella burst out,

"Thank you sooooooo much. I love you guys." She wrapped her arms around her fathers shouders. Carlos embraced his daughter.

"I`m glad." A feminine voice spoke. Gabriella`s Mexican mother returned from the pantry, her wavy curls set in a high bun. She approached her mother and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you so much."


	3. Chapter 3

GABI`S POV

"Wow, this place is beyond awesome, it`s beawesome." A guy with shaggy black hair and a black skateboard commented, getting off the yellow bus. A smile crept onto my face,

"But, dude, where are the skate ramps." Another one asked, in a low voice. The first guy looked around,

"That is so not cool."

I ignored the two of them and wandered off to Taylor and Sharpay, who had just gotten off the bus. Taylor`s mouth dropped open, whilst Shar looked unimpressed.

The land was huge, flat and green. There was a large smoothie bar in the distance, surrounded by red tables with redwood trunks dotted around them, it was like an outdoor luncheon area. There was a building behind the luncheon area, probably the mess hall.

A few yards away was the sports area, it was HUGE. There was a large gymnasium, a football field and a soccer field, a baseball/softball pitch, a kickball pitch, two skateboard ramps, a refreshment bar, a storage, there was a river a little way off, there was a golf course, and a couple of small buildings. The river separated the mess hall from the rest of the forest (full of redwoods of course).

I could tell everyone else was as awestruck as I was as they piled out of the bus. All of us campers formed a semi-circle around a small platform. A woman in a red jacket and white plain skirt, her red hair was pulled into a high, tight ponytail. Her red lips were stretched into a huge smile.

"Hey, Redwood campers!" her strong voice floated through the crowd. I was excited, I was one of the 98 lucky ids to be attending Camp Redwood`s reopening, in a hundred and twenty-five years.

**A/N: I did not like this chapter at all.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I couldn't post this sooner because there was a malfunction with my internet. I tried to make it longer. Enjoy and please review.**

The woman in the red jacket took the admittance sheet from another camp counsellor. A broad grin plastered on her flushed face.

"Hi, I'm camp counsellor Kiki. I'll now sort you into you various groups, I'm sure for those of you that read the brochure, will know that we used red colored birds as the cabin names. If you're not happy with the cabin you've been assigned to, please consult the secretary at the administration office." She pointed to one of the buildings, "For the first group, when I call your names, you will follow Counsellor Howard," she pointed to a brown haired male, in the same matching jacket. "Robin:- Rebecca Harper, Amanda Piers, Noah Jackson, Michael Davis, and, er, Wilder?"

The same skater boy that had spoken beamed and raised his hand, nodding, he high-fived the other one that had asked about the skate ramps.

"Radical, dude." He followed the other four campers.

"Um, next, Red poll, Miley Stewart, Lillian Truscott, Oliver Oaken, Justin Russo, Alex Russo and Harper Stone, Jerry." She pointed to another male counsellor. The seven left.

"Zack Martin, Cody Martin, London Tipton, Neya Moseby, and Bailey from Kettle corn." She called, five more left, "Charlotte Torres, Danny Oller, Skipper Cole, Brooke Rodriquez and Toejam."

Slowly the crowd thinned, until there were only six campers.

Gabriella grabbed Taylor's upper arm tightly and squealed in excitement. Taylor winced,

"Are you trying to dislocate my arm or give me a stroke?" she hissed in pain. Gabriella shook her head but still held on to Taylor's arm, she grabbed Sharpay's stick fingers,

"We're in the same cabin." Gabriella whispered excitedly.

"Thank you, Ms obvious," Sharpay said sarcastically, "Chill, Gabs, you're acting like this is your first time at camp."

"It is." Taylor corrected, prying Gabriella fingers off her numb arm. **(A/N: I'm listening to **_**Say ok**_**, I love it.) **She finally freed her arm, "Check it out." She nodded her head towards the three boys, laughing and joking a little way off.

_No, please let it not be, please, I'd literally sell my soul! _Gabriella screamed in her head. Her fists clenched tightly, causing her knuckles to pop in protest.

**A/N: I know I said I'd make it longer, but I have to go out. Farewell dinner.**

**Saya nora.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Enjoy.**

"Zeke Baylor, Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth, Sharpay Evans, Taylor Mckessie , and Gabriella Montez. Girls on the left side, boys on the left, enjoy your stay at Camp Redwood." Counsellor Kiki smiled warmly before hopping off the tiny platform and walking up to the EHS campers.

She led them to the farthest cabin from the rest, not very far from the ocean.

The cabin was built of a dark wood and stood on firm looking stilts, nearly concealed by the wet, dark green ferns sprouting out of the moist brown soil.

Kiki led the way up the steps and unlocked the mahogany door and they stepped into a small woody scented cabin.

The small hall stretched out a bit, with many doors on either side.

Keys jangled as Kiki handed them each a key,

"The Kitchen is the last door down the hall, Give these keys in at the administrations office, at the end of camp, there're two bathrooms, girls side and boys side, the cabins have been furnished but with no TV, or any of those things, but you have a few kitchen electronic appliances. Your luggage is outside, in the luggage pile." Gabriella shuddered inwardly as she felt something cold and hard, and quite comforting brush against her skin, causing it to tingle and the unfamiliar heat course through her veins. She slowly looked up and saw Troy's hand move slightly, a crooked smirk playing on his face. Gabriella blushed and looked down, before redirecting her attention back to Kiki.

"And everyone will be meeting up in the grand hall in about one hour, where the rules and regulations will be read out, and then you will have to collect you schedule from the Administrative office, after the meeting." Kiki ended her speech and stepped out of the door, "Enjoy your stay." She added before leaving the six teens alone.

Chad was the first to step forward, without looking at anyone, he walked into the first room, silently claiming it as his, Zeke followed next, then Taylor, then Troy, then Gabriella, and finally, almost reluctantly, Sharpay.

Gabriella gazed around the wooden room, before throwing her backpack on the cozy-looking four poster bed. She closely inspected the room.

There was a wooden closet, a small bedside table with a tiny night light resting on the side. The room was barely furnished, in her opinion, no dresses, floor-length mirror, desk for a laptop or something.

A woodsy smell floated in through the open window and Gabriella felt herself sniffing uncontrollably.

"Is this place simple or what?" Taylor's voice echoed from behind her. Taylor walked into her room looking normal, followed by a scowling Sharpay. Gabriella nodded and turned away from the open window.

"There's sooooo much dirt, I can't even walk in my heels." Sharpay complained, seating herself on the bed.

"It's camp, you're not supposed to wear heels." Taylor said. She turned back to Gabriella, "Anyway, you're living the American Girls dream…"

"Which is?" Gabriella asked, sitting next to Sharpay on the purple sheets.

"Duh, sharing a cabin with America's _hottie_, Troy Bolton." Sharpay filled in. Gabriella groaned and leaned back onto the bed, spilling her sooty curls on the soft pillows.

"Technically, so are you." She pointed out, shutting her mocha eyes. Taylor gave off a sarcastic high pitched laugh.

"Yes, but we're not the ones with 'Troy' issues." She laughed, using air quotes.

Gabriella sat up quickly,

"I_ do not_." She hissed. Sharpay's hazel eyes glinted deviously,

"Yes you do. And you know it." She insisted. Gabriella grabbed one of the pillows and covered her face with it. She'd seen lots of movies where people would scream into pillows to let all their frustration out, and she suddenly felt like trying it.

They heard the front door open and some male voices yelling, perhaps arguing, and the continuous thumping of what sounded like a basketball, they heard Chad scream as the thumping of the ball died down in the distance, what he said sounded unintelligible to the girls. The door slammed after a long while, the three boys had left and the girls were alone.

"Let's go get our stuff." Gabriella mumbled against the silky material. Sharpay stood up and followed Taylor out of the door. Gabriella followed them soon after, still pondering her thoughts, _Did she really like Troy Bolton?_

She tried hard convincing herself that she didn't, but she herself wasn't very sure.


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on, come on." Gabriella moaned tugging harder on the leather brown handle. She was trying to pull out her stuff from underneath the mounds of bags. She pulled harder, and harder.

"Where the heck are Taylor and Sharpay when you need them?" She muttered under her breath, pulling harder. She groaned and threw the strap in frustration.

"Do you need any help are you stand there all day talking to yourself?" a male voice said from behind her. She jumped, and whirled around.

His chestnut bangs hung over his deep azure eyes, a crooked grin playing on the corners of his kissable lips. Gabriella shivered uncontrollably.

"What are you doing here?" she snarled. Troy stepped forward.

"Do you need help?" he asked, ignoring her question. Gabriella turned around and grabbed the bag strap.

"No." she snapped, pulling the handle again. Ignoring her, Troy placed his hands over hers, causing her heart to thump loudly against her ribs, she was pretty sure he could hear it. He smiled, his skin felt cold and comforting, she shivered inwardly, and leant into his touch.

"So you do need my help." She could feel him smile. She involuntarily slipped out of his arms.

"Whatever." She muttered. With one small pull, the bag wrenched free. Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "Thanks." She mumbled, taking it from his hand, her skin brushed against his.

Troy reached forward and pulled out a similar looking bag from the pile.

"So are you going to the 'Welcome Bonfire'?" He asked casually, avoiding her eyes.

"Why would it bother you?" she pulled the suitcase behind her as she started walking towards their cabin. Troy followed her. He quickly took her bag from her fingers before she could react.

"Gimmie me that back." She snapped, holding her hand out. Troy smiled,

"I'll take it to the cabin."

"Why are you being nice?" she asked suspiciously, stopping in front of a familiar looking cabin, which was not theirs.

"We're cabin buddies, of course." He said, in an obvious tone. Gabriella arched her thick eyebrows.

"Are you on drugs? Because the Troy Bolton I know would never offer for something that he wouldn't benefit from."

"Ha ha ha, very funny, Bri-ella, Gabriella." Troy said, trying to cover up for the slip, "Anyway are you going to the Bonfire?" he asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged, and stalked off angrily.

**A/N: I'm not concentrating on the typing because I'm watching Revenge of Sith, I LOVE it. Star wars, Lord of the Rings, Heroes, and The Matrix rule. I love Sci-Fi. I have all of the six Star wars movies on DVD. I'm at the part where Anikin killed the little children/jedi's. Evil, but he is sooooo cute. **

**Ciao, Saya Nora. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Enjoy.**

* * *

The heavy wooden door opened creakily, as Troy's sneakered foot pushed it lightly. He expected Gabriella to be one of those girls that packed light, but the large bag in his hand proved him wrong.

Troy suddenly felt dizzy as the scent of the room blinded him. It was Gabriella's scent, the scent that caused butterflies to form in his tightened stomach muscles, and his sensitive brain to switch into over drive. His grip around the leather handle tightened as he thought about those midnight curls, cascading over the tiny shoulders, the way the large mocha orbs twinkled with glee, whenever she laughed, the way her soft, bronze skin felt against his.

She was perfect, everything about her was perfect.

Troy bit down hard on his lip to prevent him from screaming as the heavy door slammed against his big toe. He shot out of his daze and dragged his sore toe towards the neatly made bed.

He dropped onto it and heaved the heavy bag onto the bed.

A cool breeze blew in from the open window, fanning Troy's heated face. He in the room of the girl of his dreams, his player instinct was telling him to snoop around, but he felt a stronger feeling urging him not to. He decided to follow this new and unfamiliar feeling.

He pulled himself off the bed and trudged to the door. He got out of the room just as Chad and Zeke walked in.

"Wotchoo doin ere?" Chad accusingly, spraying crumbs of food on Zeke, who hissed and stepped away from him. Translation: "Watcha doin there?"

Troy blushed and stepped away from the closed door. Zeke wiped his face, sporting a disgusted expression.

"I'm going to wash my face, maybe even sanitize it, and perhaps wear a helmet for the rest of Chad's tormented life." He said dramatically, before leaving the room. Chad scowled and swallowed loudly, and looked back at Troy's crimson face.

"What were you doing in there?" he asked again. Troy shrugged,

"I was putting her bag in her room, she asked, well, more like begged me to drop her bag off in her room for her." He explained, exaggerating a bit. Chad nodded, almost understandingly.

15 minutes later

"Ugh!" Troy screamed in frustration, banging his fist onto the marble countertop. Chad leaned back,

"Okay, fine, I'll wear the black ones, sheesh." He said. Troy closed his eyes and flicked his bangs from his eyes.

"I'm not talking about that, Chad." He sighed, re-opening his eyes.

"He's talking about Gabriella." Zeke said, he licked the doughy spoon, before dunking it in the ceramic sink. He was baking double, chunky chocolate chip cookies **(A/N: My favorite.)**, his way of saying "Hello".

"Who?" Chad asked, trying to lean forward to grab the empty bowl from Zeke's fingers, but he quickly the bowl back.

"The Latina that's in the room opposite him." Zeke explained, slamming the oven door shut and turning the timer on.

"Isn't she the one that was always staring at you back at East High?" Chad asked, scowling at Zeke. Troy leaned his head back and chewed on his bottom lip. He nodded. Chad shuddered, "Her blonde friend scares me."

"I find her _sexy_." Zeke drooled, staring over Chad's afro.

"Yeah, she rejected me that day I asked her out in freshman year, and ever since then, I don't know why, she's hated me. And that's hot." Troy smiled. He let his mind wander to Gabriella as he began drawing imaginary swirls on the countertop. He didn't hear the front door open and the feminine giggling.

"Earth to Troy, She's here." Zeke said, snapping his fingers in front of Troy's face. Troy looked up just as Taylor and Gabriella walked into the kitchen giggling.

Troy felt his breath hitch in his throat as the Filipino beauty walked into the room. The room suddenly brightened up, as the heat radiated off her skin.

"Oooooh, something smells good." The silky voice floated through his ears, and a dreamy smile played at the corners of his lips. "Hi, I'm Gabriella." She introduced herself.

"Chad Danforth." He said holding out his free, doughy hand, his other one was holding the mixing bowl, which she'd managed to pry from Zeke's fingers. Gabriella giggled and shook his wrist instead.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Enjoy, **

They arrived at the main hall, to find campers talking, laughing and taking their seats. The room seemed to be filling up very quickly as the trio found four vacant seats, next to the center aisle.

They squeezed past the campers, mumbling apologies whenever they accidently pushed a camper into a seat, a person, or on the floor.

They finally made it to the seats, before anyone could take them. Taylor took the first, then Sharpay took the one in the middle, and Gabriella took the third, leaving the last to anyone who wanted it.

"Hey ya'll." A low feminine voice sounded from behind them. Taylor turned in her seat, to face the Tennessean brunette.

"Hey, Miles, Oliver, Alex, Mitchie, Harper, Caitlyn, and _Lillian._" Taylor added tauntingly. The sporty blonde scowled and crossed her arms,

"Tay, don't call me that. It's Lilly." She corrected. Gabriella and Sharpay turned around in their seats. Gabriella smiled and high-fived Miley.

"Hey, guys." Gabriella greeted them. Sharpay just gave a curt diva-like nod in their direction.

"Aren't you excited? I am. Major!" Mitchie Torres beamed, showing off her large, white teeth.

"She wouldn't shut up about it." Her younger sister, Charlotte, yelled a few seats down from them. **(A/N: Charlotte Adams form As the Bell Rings. Little Demi. I prefer her then.)**

"Anyway, I hear Troy Bolton has his eye on you." Miley said in a sing-song voice as Gabriella blushed. She looked down, letting the stray curls cover her crimson face. Alex leaned forward, her inky black hair pulled back in a high, tight pony, and her mocha eyes twinkling. Everyone always said that she was an exact replica of Gabriella, except for the fact that her face was a lot rounder.

"Ooh, someone's caught the basket ball captains' eye, ooh, MAJOR gossip." She said, fixing her gaze on Gabriella. Her blush deepened. Sharpay snorted, and inspected her pink, squared finger nails.

"He wants her is all." She mumbled, and turned halfway around in her seat.

"OMG! Really, I never knew." Oliver said an octave higher than his actual voice. They all looked at him as he shrunk back in his seat, "I so need more guy friends." He mumbled, turning to a couple of 9th graders on his right.

"Anyway, so, do you like him back?" Harper asked, her kooky outfit today was a green, puffy sleeved green water melon studded shirt, with red trousers and black beads stuck all over them, in a precise, unknowable pattern. Caitlyn laughed at random.

"Check it out, Tess broke a heel and now she's lost it," She sneered, ripping the cream earphones from her ears, "Sorry, please do carry on with you interrogation." She apologized, stuffing the earphones into her front jeans pocket, and sitting up straighter in her seat.

"No." Gabriella's voice shook, it sounded very unconvincing, even through her own lips. Lilly arched her eyebrows, and tilted her head to the side,

"No you don't, or no you don't want to carry on with the interrogation?" she asked, looking partially confused. Alex looked up, and puckered her plump lips,

"Speak of the devil." She joked, leaning back in her seat, and folding her arms, a tight smile playing at the corners of pink lips.

She was right, Troy had just entered the large, noisy hall, with of course, Chad, Zeke and Jason Cross behind him.

The whole room seemed to brighten up as he walked in, Gabriella felt her eyes automatically travel to him, his usual "sports" posse.

His ceruleans searched the full hall before finally resting on her mocha ones. She felt her heart stop, then accelerate, she began chewing on her bottom lip. Troy winked at her slyly. She scowled and turned away from his smug face. She noticed four empty seats in front of herm

"Just my luck." She muttered dryly. Miley laughed behind her, and Alex snickered.

"We pity you." Alex laughed, patting Gabriella's shoulder lightly.

"Good luck." Mitchie, Harper, Caitlyn and Lilly added. Gabriella felt her eyes travel back to him, only to find him talking to a girl, with auburn hair, and dark brown eyes, she was quite pretty, but Gabriella felt herself suddenly loathing her, she was too perfect. She felt something bony prod her lightly in the ribs. She turned. Sharpay and Taylor were looking towards where she was looking.

"That's Anisa Lamia Srour, her parents are originally from Lebanon, but she was born here and lived here her entire life." Taylor explained, smiling. Gabriella nodded, trying to not seem interested.

"She became head cheerleader at the beginning of the semester." Sharpay added, glaring at her, her eyes squinted untrustworthily.

"How do you guys know so much about her?" Gabriella asked, her gaze still fixed on Troy and Anisa, but mainly Anisa, trying to find flaws in her.

"She forces us to. Seriously, she's always going around, talking about how rich her parents are, she seriously can't shut up, oh how I'd love to shove her ego up her….."

"Watch it, Blondie." A voice threatened from beside Gabriella. All three of them turned to the voice that had interrupted Sharpay's rant.

A red haired stood beside her, her stick hands on her curvy hip, wearing a red mini skirt, and red cropped sleeveless tee, WILDCATS cheerleading uniform.

She scowled, and twisted her rosy red, Botox filled lips.

"You're just jealous that _her_ parents won the best country club of the year award." She said smugly. A skinny blonde stood behind her like a doll, she was smirking widely.

"Yeah, jealous." she mimicked, placing her hand on her hip. The red-haired held up a pale hand to silence her.

"Anyway, she's with Bolton, he just asked her out." The red-haired continued, glancing triumphantly at the couple. Gabriella felt her heart shatter as the words left her mouth. Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks, but she bit down hard on her trembling lower lip, to stop them from falling. The red-haired seemed to notice, "Aww, is the little baby going to run crying to her mama?" she sneered. Gabriella frowned,

"No," she said firmly, "I just pity her, I mean, Bolton is such a donkey." She lied. The red-haired arched her thin, perfectly defined eyebrows and smirked.

"Is the 'wittle' baby too scared to say a swear word." She cooed. Gabriella turned away, just as Troy and Anisa walked their way, Anisa giggling flirtatiously and Troy chuckling, his eyes on her.

"Hey, Chelsea, over here." She called. The red-haired turned and smiled, she turned back to them and scowled, she raised her hands and flicked her fingers,

"_Ciao._" She flicked her wavy hair over her shoulder and strutted away with the blonde to where Anisa and Troy stood. Chad and Zeke walked up to the empty seats and sat down.

"Hey." Gabriella smiled at them, "Did Bolton ask Anisa out?" she tried not to sound too eager, but failed miserably. Sharpay laughed, oblivious to the way Zeke was staring at her.

"Yeah" Chad answered, twirling his favorite basketball on his index finger. "What's it to ya?" he asked, catching the ball in his hands. Gabriella blushed.

"Can't a girl ask a question without being interrogated?" Taylor snapped, butting in. Chad cringed,

"No, it's my right to know. He's _my_ best friend." he mumbled, slouching. The hall silenced as a counselor Kiki took to the large empty stage.

"Hello again, I'm sure you all know me, but for those that forgot, I'm Counselor Kiki. I'm sure you have all settled into your various cabins. I will now introduce you head-sports camp Counselors Jamie and Taslima." Kiki ran off the stage as a large bulky man with ginger hair, climbed on, followed by a small tawny skin colored woman, and chocolate hair. The bulky man had a whistle hanging around his neck, and green veins popping out of his neck. He looked like he meant business. He began talking about sports.

Gabriella suddenly felt the temperature in the room increase as a certain someone took the seat next to her.

"Hey." the familiar husky voice whispered in her ear…

The weeks went by pretty quickly. It had been almost two weeks since the wildcats arrived at Camp Redwood. Troy and Anisa were still together, showing a little too much PDA when Gabriella was around, Sharpay was still oblivious to Zeke's staring and niceness, and Chad and Taylor, still Chad and Taylor – unspoken attraction.

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

"Finally" Cody mumbled, hauling the heavy canoe onto the muddy sand. He dusted his large hands on the sides of his swim-trunks. His twin appeared beside him, smiling broadly.

"Well that was easy." He said, winking at a taller camper, in a one-piece swimsuit, walking past. She ignored him and walked over to some other girls. Cody frowned and pushed his eyebrows together.

"That's because you didn't do anything." Bailey said walking up to the twins, panting slightly. She crossed her arms across her small chest.

"Exactly" Cody agreed, folding his arms and staring dreamily at Bailey. "Nothing." He mumbled.

"Ookay, camp water, nah-ah." London complained, hopping out of the green-blue water and shaking her black hair vigorously. She frowned and stared at the water. "It's _green_."

"I know." Cody said.

"It's not sparkling water." She pointed out.

"Who fills a river with sparkling water?" Zack asked, glad the conversation wasn't directed to accusing him.

"_Lake Paris_ of course." She said in a "DUH" tone. Bailey arched her eyebrows,

"There's a Lake _Paris_?" she asked, looking unsurprised.

"Sheesh, next you're gonna be telling me that eggs come from chickens." Zack mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"They do." Brooke **(A/N: As the Bell Rings.) **said, joining in the conversation. Both Zack's and London's mouths dropped open.

"Really?!" How?" they chorused.

Gabriella turned away from the knot she was tightening, to look at them. She smiled and nudged Alice Hale **(A/N: TWILIGHT! LOVE IT!!!)**. Alice rolled her bronze eyes.

"When they throw up!" she yelled to them, pulling at the rope. Zack's mouth fell open, as did London's.

"And mom makes us eat them." Zack muttered to Cody.

"That' disgusting!" London exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "I feel like barfing."

"Ooh, what if you throw up an egg." Cody stated sarcastically. London frowned and stared ahead of her, tilting her head slightly.

"Well actually…" Brooke began, but Neya Moseby appeared and cut her off quickly,

"Don't bother."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. I don't get it, why do people use the word "husky" for the dangerous guys?**

**Sorry, I was just curious. Read and review, please.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Enjoy!**

Gabriella walked silently out of her rope, after finally completing an _Anglers Loop._ She looked at it quickly before stuffing them in her gym bag. She looked around her. The place was empty, apart from two male campers, who were walking towards the information office. Remembering she had a problem with one of the activities, that she hadn't chosen, she began making her way towards the tiny building, gripping her gym bag tightly in her fingers.

"Yeah, Chels totally broke up with Brick last night." She heard one of the guys say to the other. He had dirty blonde hair, and brown-green eyes, a large muscular build, and a really tanned body. The other had bleached blonde hair, and green eyes, he was a bit smaller than the other.

As Gabriella neared them, the guy with bleached blonde hair looked, his green eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Hey," he winked at her. Gabriella pretended not to have heard him and walked up to the man sitting at the desk.

"Excuse me?" the man snorted loudly and held up a wrinkled finger. Clearly, he was on the phone. The boy with bleached blonde hair, walked forward.

"Hi, I'm Derek. You must be Gabriella?" he smiled, holding out his hand. Gabriella's heart fluttered in her chest, and she could feel the butterflies forming in the pit of her stomach. Acute guy knew _her_ name. She blushed and looked at the guy properly.

"Hi." She stammered, mentally kicking herself, for looking like a complete idiot. "Yes." She mumbled again. Derek chuckled, and pulled his hand back, seeing as she didn't take it.

"Well, I was going to check out the Coast Ranges tomorrow, and um, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. I mean. It'll be cool, I think." He sounded kind of nervous, and he avoided her eyes. Gabriella blushed again. She shrugged,

"I, I'd love, um, to." She stammered faintly, a cute guy, just asked her out. She pinched her wrist, just to check if she was dreaming. It hurt, so she wasn't. She hitched her gym bag further up her shoulder, "I guess I'll see around." She mumbled, looking down. Derek chuckled,

"You don't know me, and you just agreed to go on a date with me?" he asked, sounding slightly smug. Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows,

"I know who you are, Derek Rogers, captain of the football team, we go to the same school, East High." She pointed out, trying to sound flirtatious and batting her eye-lashes. Derek chuckled, and rubbed her shoulder,

"I always knew you were special, I mean actually beat Mckessie, in academics." He said, Gabriella blushed, and giggled nervously. She held her bag strap tighter,

"Well, I'll see you around," she mumbled sheepishly, and took a small step back, closer to the tiny information office. Derek smiled smugly. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Gabriella's cheek, causing her heart to falter in her chest and her head to spin. Derek turned and began walking away. Once he was out of sight, Gabriella raised her palm to her cheek and touched the skin where Derek had kissed her, which still tingled dangerously.

She needed to lie down, so she decided to forget about the one activity, sports wasn't a big deal to her.

She had to find Sharpay and Taylor. She started walking hastily towards the cabin, hardly noticing the pair of angry azure eyes watching her every step.

"Shar! Tay!" she yelled as she entered the cabin. She slammed the door behind her and peered into the miniature living-room, it was empty, and she checked Sharpay's room, empty. Then she checked Taylor's room, they were both there, and so was London: Sharpay lying on her back, six blonde ponytails sticking out of her head, on the neatly made bed, flicking through some magazines with London, Taylor was sitting at her desk, typing something on her _Apple_ laptop, and chewing on a dried cinnamon stick.

" Hey, guys." She greeted, stepping into the silent room, Sharpay turned a page without looking up.

"'Hay' is for horses." She retorted boredom etched in her voice. London suddenly screamed and threw the magazine she'd been observing on the floor, she clamped her hand over her mouth, and began hyperventilating.

"Give London her asthma pump." Taylor yelled, spitting the roughly chewed cinnamon stick out of her mouth, over London's gasping, not turning away from her laptop screen. Sharpay grabbed the gem-studded asthma pump off the bedside table and shoved it in London's free hand. She held it up to her lips and took several deep breaths, once she'd relaxed she opened her mouth.

"I have just been put on _Forbes_ _top twenty: worst dressed_!" she gasped, grabbing her hair. Sharpay turned another page,

"No." she mumbled sarcastically. London nodded vigorously, missing the sarcasm in her voice. Gabriella couldn't help it, the excitement was bubbling inside of her, begging to be released,

"DerekRogersaskedmetogooutwithhim!" she blurted, not daring to breath. Taylor's fingers paused over the keyboard, Sharpay looked up from her oh-so-captivating-magazine, and London cocked her head to the side. All of them shocked, Taylor was the first to speak.

"Repeat."

"Derek Rogers asked me out!"

"NO WAY!!!" Sharpay squealed, pushing the stack of magazines and London off the bed in her haste to get close to Gabriella. London scowled and picked herself of the ground.

"I can see I'm not wanted here. Goodbye." She snapped, stalking out of the room. Sharpay ignored her, and stumbled towards Gabriella, her arms outstretched dramatically. Gabriella instinctively took a step back, as Sharpay's frightening face neared her.

"Explain. Everything. Now. Leave nothing out, no stone unturned!" she paused, standing right in front of Gabriella and seizing her upper arms roughly, and shaking her. "What? How? When? Who?" She screeched.

"Um, Derek Rogers?" she said confusedly, trying o pull her arms from Sharpay's iron grip. Sharpay's hazel eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open,

"No way," she gasped, her grip tightening around Gabriella's arms and she hissed sharply in pain.

"When?" she asked again. Taylor was looking at them, curiously.

"A few minutes earlier." She stuttered, still trying to wrench her arms from Sharpay's ever-tightening grip. "Shar…" she groaned, clenching her teeth tightly.

"How?"

"Um, he told me he was going for a walk by the Coast Ranges and asked me if I wanted to go with him, and I said yes, and you get it, so I'm going." She explained, through gritted teeth.

"What!" Sharpay squealed, jumping up and down slightly, digging her abnormally long nails into Gabriella's tender flesh.

"Cut it out, Shar." She snapped, prying Sharpay's fingers from her sore muscles. Taylor tapped her pencil thoughtfully against her chin. She finally spoke,

"Do you really like him? A few weeks ago you thought him to be snobby, self-absorbent, self-centered, a jerk. What I'm trying to say is what if you get hurt, again. Didn't you tell me that you can't take that much heart break?" she asked, dropping the pencil on the desk, and swiveling the wooden chair around.

Gabriella felt her chest clench. She chewed on her bottom lip and looked down. Sharpay paused and tilted her head in confusion.

"When?" She asked. "Who?"

"Her first-so-called-_lover_." Taylor cooed, smiling slightly. Gabriella felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and she turned away.

"What happened?" Sharpay asked, seeming interested. She looked from Gabriella to Taylor and back again.

"She was totally in love with him, and crushing on him secretly, practically and literally stalking him, it was so totally annoying. Then she caught him _nearly _having sex with the queen of sluts, yeah, you guessed it, Anisa. Anyway that put her off him for a while, but I still think she likes him." Taylor finished explaining. Gabriella shot her a warning glare, her face scarlet.

"Do I know him?" Sharpay questioned, still looking from Taylor's amused face to Gabriella's red one. Taylor's reply was interrupted by the front door banging open, hasty footsteps, heavy breathing and what sounded like the rustling of clothes. The trio hurried out into the hallway, shocked and curious.

As Gabriella entered the hall, she felt as though every cell in her body was ablaze. She clenched her fists so tight that her knuckles turned white and popped in protest.

Troy's strong body caged Anisa against the wall, her stick legs wrapped tightly round his waist, her hands in his silky chestnut hair. Troy's palms were pressed firmly against the wooden wall, crushing Anisa in between. His lips were attached to hers, as though they were stuck together by super super super hot glue.

"I think I'm gonna throw up breakfast." Sharpay pretended to gag, as her hand flew to cover her mouth dramatically.

Troy and Anisa froze. They pulled away and disentangled themselves from each other. Anisa glared at the three friends, but Troy had eyes for only one person, a certain brunette, who seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. He turned towards the door just in time to see the ebony curls disappear into her room.

This wasn't the way he had planned on feeling after his plan had been carried out. Instead of feeling satisfied, like he'd hoped to, he felt guilty, hurt and empty.

He found himself staring at the ground where the brunette had stood, seconds ago…

**A/N: Hope you liked it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I still cannot believe that Michael Jackson is dead. My mom was his number one fan when she was a kid, so it was quite a glum day for my family when he died. Like everyone was calling my mom and sympathizing with her, her sisters called all the way from U.K. and U.S.A. She actually cried, the morning after. It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sad. May he rest in piece.**

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_Troy slowly pushed the heavy door open, and peered into the semi-dark room. He could just make out the tiny hunched figure curled up at the foot of the bed. He hesitated slightly before stepping into the room. A soft giggle from the bed made him freeze. The figure got off the bed and walked towards him. He could see her holding something tightly to her ear. She walked slowly up to him._

_"Okay... I'll see you later... I love you too... Yes I have everything... Bye... No, mom, I don't... Mom, I have to go... Yes I will, plus, I'm fine, so I don't think I'll need it much... Buh-bye... Mom, please... Okay, bye... Love you too... Bye." Gabriella ended the conversation somewhat annoyed, and threw the small black cell-phone on to the bed, before re-directing her attention back on Troy. She smirked playfully, and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his warm neck. Troy's muscular ones wound around her waist, and crushed her fragile body tightly against his. He pressed his forehead against hers, and nuzzled their noses. _

_"Hey..." he whispered, pulling her closer. Instead of replying, she pressed her lips hungrily against his. Troy returned the kiss with as much force as her. As things started to get more intense, there was a soft knock on the door. At first, the both ignored it and carried on with their "activities". Then the knock came again, louder than before. The two pulled away, and as he looked at the girl, he did a double take. Anisa was staring at him, a devious smirk plastered on her face. He shook his head, he could heave sworn it was Gabriella a few seconds ago. Confusion swept over him as he gazed at the girl._

"Troy?"

_He tuned, and there stood the brunette beauty that had somehow managed to steal his heart, a pained and hurt look on her face. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. Troy pushed himself away from Anisa, and stepped towards the other girl._

_"Gabriella?"he stepped closer to her. Just as his hand was about to touch hers, she vanished.

* * *

_"Troy, please answer me?"

Troy shot out of his bed, covered in sweat, and kicked the damp sheets off him. There was another knock, quieter this time. He walked towards the door, and slowly opened it. A tiny figure stood on the other side, clutching a furry stuffed toy to her chest, like a lost five-year old would do. Troy felt his heart falter in his chest, as he ran fingers through his hair.

"Can I please stay here for the night?" the feminine voice questioned timidly, finally looking up at him. Brown met blue, and Troy could have sworn that the Earth had stopped spinning. He nervously scratched the back of his sweaty neck, and looked at the his feet.

"Um, sure." he stuttered nervously, stepping aside so the tiny brunette could step into his "humble abode" as Chad usually called it. Gabriella trudged into the room, almost hesitantly. She stood in the center of the room, looking shy. There was an awkward silence.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Troy asked, breaking the silence, he walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the empty space next to him for her to sit. Gabriella stared at him, confusedly. Troy took this moment to study her appearance. She wore a black and white striped tank-top, and a pair of really baggy boxer shorts, her hair was done into two messy french braids. She looked quite sleepy.

She continued staring at him, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Aren't you tired?" he asked. Gabriella looked down and slowly walked over to the bed. Ignoring Troy, she flung herself on the bed, her head landing softly on the pillow, causing her inky curls to spread over the white material covering the pillow. She shut her eyes, and a wide smile formed on the corner of her lips. Troy felt his stomach muscles clench, and a satisfied smile erupt on his face. He hesitantly hovered over the brunette, then placed his chin on her flat, partially exposed stomach. Her eyes shot open, and she pulled out from under him.

"What are you doing?!" she gasped, pulling her shirt over the exposed skin. Troy raised his eyebrows, and tried to look into her mocha orbs, which she kept moving every time they locked. She leaned against the headboard, and finally succumbed to his intense stare. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip as she felt her shoulders relax.

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd get offended by my 'public displays of affection'" said Troy, teasingly. Gabriella frowned, clearly not liking the humor in his voice, she pulled her legs from under his hovering body, and pulled them tightly to her tiny chest. "Jeez, Gabs, I was just joking." he said after a while.

"Sorry," Gabriella apologized, stretching her feet out, "I think I'm just tired." she mumbled, stifling a yawn. Troy chuckled raised his body off hers and lay down next to it. She sunk onto the pillow, and rolled over so her back was to him. "Thanks, again for letting me sleep here." she mumbled, burying her tiny feet under the sheets, and pulling it up so it covered up to her and Troy's knees. He leaned up and pulled it over them.

"You're always welcome here," he whispered into her hair, causing a series of shivers to travel up her spine, which didn't go unnoticed by Troy. "You cold?" Not in the mood to think, Gabriella nodded. She heard Troy shuffle behind her, and next thing she knew, he had wrapped his arm around her and pulling her closer to him. She froze but it quickly passed and she leaned into his rock solid body. She closed her eyes and could slowly feel herself drifting into unconsciousness.

"Goodnight, Brie." Troy whispered into her ear, tickling her skin with his warm breath. Gabriella was barely awake to reply, instead she tried to nod, but nothing moved, she gave up and finally let herself go.

"I love you, Gabriella." Troy whispered. Gabriella felt her breath hitch in her throat. She was dreaming, she was 99.99999999% sure, but the words had sounded so real, she was 1% certain, that maybe, just maybe, those words were real, that he had actually said those words.

She tried to say something, but gave up, and soon fell asleep...

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**A/N: Wasn't as long as I wanted it to be. I apologize.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N; This one was rushed. A thousand apologies, and anyone who watches "Mind your language" should understand the "A thousand apologies" thing. Thank you to all of my reviewers, your reviews mean A LOT to me, to the power of infinity, "Thank you, very, very, very much!"

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**

A loud horn blew in the distance, filling Gabriella's eardrums and causing them to vibrate dangerously. She squeezed her eyelids tightly, and buried her face deeper, in something that seemed harder, yet more comfortable than a pillow.

"Rise and shine." a voice whispered in her ear. Something warm and light travelled over her arm, causing electrical sparks to erupt on her sensitive skin. Then suddenly, the warmth disappeared, leaving her quite cold. She shot up. Her eyes flew open and she gazed around the unfamiliar empty bed. "Brie, I really do not want to find out the meaning of 'camp' detention." the voice spoke again. She raised her head up to the source of the voice. Troy was standing not far from her, his bare back to, his perfectly formed biceps bulging out of his arms, causing Gabriella's heart to falter in her chest. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She had slept in Troy's room. He was standing shirtless just a few feet from her. She was sitting on his bed, in his room. She looked around, still confused.

"What happened last night?" she questioned, yawning slightly. Troy turned around and faced her, holding a red _Wildcats_ hoodie in his hand.

"You came to my room, claiming to have had had a nightmare, and asked if you could sleep" he explained, his cocky attitude returning. Gabriella looked at her lap, as the memories from the previous night flowed through her mind. "You forget that easily?"

"No, I just have a lot on my mind." which was partially true, being a senior next semester, filling out a dozen college applications a day, and the one that possessed three-quarters of her mind, the _hottie_ standing three feet from her. Him being shirtless wasn't helping her clear her mind either. "Well, thank you for letting me sleep here, but I wasn't feeling okay when I came here, so next time, if I do, spray ice cold water in my face, and if that doesn't work, pinch me. Understand, I don't want to relive what happened, then that would just add on to my nightmares."

"Don't you mean fantasies?" Troy teased. Ignoring him, Gabriella got off the bed and stomped over to the door. Troy feigned, and scowled, "That's it? No 'Thank you' or 'Good morning, thanks for letting me sleep here last night?"

"Good morning." She breathed angrily, wrenching the door open and stepping into the cold hallway. She shut the door and leaned against, trying to regulate her breathing._ Idiot! What were you thinking?!_ She mentally scolded herself. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she made her way to her room.

"What happened?"

Gabriella froze, and whipped around. She was met by a clump of wild hair, forcing her to take a step back, her hit the door. Chad stood in front of her, his arms folded, smiling contently, beside him stood Taylor and Sharpay, each wearing a bathrobe, Sharpay had some green substance smeared all over her face, and she had curling pins in her hair, her pink bathrobe hung off her thin shoulders, limply. Zeke stood on her other side, looking slightly green in the face, and seeming to be moving further away from Sharpay, by occasionally shuffling his feet. Sharpay didn't seem bothered by this gesture. She hardly seemed to notice him.

"What are you guys talking about?" Gabriella asked, playing dumb. Her hand searched for the doorknob. Sharpay threw hr head back and laughed dramatically, as did Zeke and Chad. Taylor poked them harshly, before placing her attention back on Gabriella.

"When were we supposed to laugh dramatically then?" Chad whispered a bit too loud to Taylor, who scowled angrily.

"Never!" she hissed impatiently. Chad made a face between a pout and confusion.

"I don't care what she said! Shut up, before I get her scissors." Taylor snapped. Chad's large hands flew up to his hair, and a horrified look crawled onto his face.

"You wouldn't?" He squeaked, his mouth falling open in shock.

"Try me." Taylor challenged. Sharpay stepped gracefully in between them, and held her hands up,

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!!!" She screeched in annoyance. "You argue so much, and now she's gone." Taylor and Chad turned towards Gabriella's door, only to find it closed, and Gabriella-less. "Ugh! You guys always do this. Can't you go for one day without arguing? It's much more annoying than 'Chicken Boy' staring at me all day, with the niceness, and the always getting me what I want." Zeke frowned,

"Am I that bad?" he asked, looking slightly hurt.

"Nah, you're just too nice, is all." She tried to assure him. Chad scoffed.

"Zeke, nice?" He burst out laughing. "He's anything but…"

"To you, I bet." Taylor sneered.

_In Gabriella's room (Gabi's POV)_

"Here the go again…" I mumbled to my self. They were almost always arguing. I tried to block the loud talking from my ears. No help. I groaned. N o matter how hard I tried, my thoughts always kept wandering back to Troy.

"Stupid git, imbecile, $$hole, with ultramarine, azure, cerulean, oceanic, murderous, hypnotic, amazing…"

"Wow, and I thought I was crazy." A voice echoed from behind me. I scowled, was he stalking me. I spoke my thoughts aloud, earning a chuckle from him, "Maybe, or maybe I'm a figment of your imagination" He joked. Something dropped with a clang on my dresser, "I did not drop it." He said quickly.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, turning around and glaring at him suspiciously. He smirked, and folded his arms stubbornly across his chest.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! LET GO!!!!!!" _I heard a scream, which sounded a lot like Chad, come from outside. Troy chuckled, quite sinister-like.

"If I tell, you, I'd have to kill you." I turned away from him, fuming. I hated his cockiness, it just made me want to bite his head off and feed it to _Nessie_. "We'll meet again, at breakfast, I presume, but till then, we meet again."

"That doesn't even make sense." I turned around, but he was already gone, "$$." I muttered under my breath. I was quite suspicious, of it before, but I had never known it to be true, Taylor and Sharpay had told me countless of times, but I was never quite sure, but now I knew it for real, and there was no doubting it that Troy Bolton, was for a fact, mental, cuckoo, loco, crazy, stupid, which ever word you would like to call him, and what scared me the most was the fact that I was slowly falling hard for him, no matter how hard I tried no to. And somehow, I knew he knew it, and felt the same for me, but I wasn't quite sure, besides, Troy had many different personalities, but I couldn't help but fall for all, something I would never let Him the satisfaction of knowing, ever.

Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never ever...........

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. R&R....**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

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_Gabi's POV_

I spent nearly five minutes trying to figure out how Troy came into my room, but I found nothing. I was starting to get worried; this could mean that he could come into my room whenever he pleased. I sighed and decided to quit searching and get ready for the events waiting.

I met up with Taylor and Sharpay after I'd freshened up, and finally ridded my mind of Troy. Together we walked to the mess hall, Shar and Tay still trying to get me to spill what happened with me and Troy,

"You guys, I promise I'll tell you later, but not now, it's too crowded." I mumbled, as we walked into the loud and busy breakfast hall. Sharpay groaned impatiently, and grabbed the tray from Taylor's hands,

"When is later?" She asked, piling her plate with food. Taylor looked at her,

"Are you going to eat all of that?"

"Of course not, silly. It's for all of us."She said, sounding disgusted. She pushed the tray in Taylor's open hands, and grabbed another one, piled it up with food and shoved it into my hands. She then led us towards an empty table, which oh-so-coincidentally happened to be right next to where Chad, Troy, Zeke, Anisa, Chelsea, the unnamed blond, and quite a lot of other jocks, and cheerleaders sat.

"So I says to her, 'You're barking up on the wrong tree.'" I heard Chad explain, and burst out laughing, spraying crumbs all over his food. No one laughed with him, just stared at him in confusion.

"Chew, and swallow, then speak." Zeke snapped, disgusted. Chad puckered his lips and looked away stubbornly I trie to keep my eyes on my tray and away from the blue pools I could feel on the back of my head, penetrating through my skin. I could feel a shiver forcing its way up my spine. I plopped down next to Taylor, slamming my tray on the surface of the table, louder than I intended to do, causing a few heads to turn, including _his._

I kept my eyes down, and boredly stabbed my "sunny-side up" eggs with my plastic fork, and watched as the yellow, sticky yolk poured out from the center.

"Don't kill it!!!!" I heard someone screech from the distance, I jumped and dropped my fork. The cafeteria was quite silent. I had a feeling the yell was directed to me. My eyes searched wildly for the "yeller". They rested on Chad. He looked horrified. He pushed his chair back and ran over to me, nearly tripping over his feet. "What are you doing?" he panted, right next to me. I got an unpleasant whiff of bacon and beans.

"Eating." I muttered, feeling suddenly self conscious, as quite a lot of eyes were on me. Chad frowned and grabbed my plate of eggs from my tray.

"You disgust me." I furrowed my eyebrows and nodded in confusion. I looked at Troy and our eyes locked. He looked like he was trying to contain his laughter. I glared at him and he winked.

_Jerk._ I thought to myself, looking away from him, I looked at Chad, who was greedily devouring my eggs.

"Weirdo." Taylor mumbled, stuffing a forkful of bacon in her mouth. Sharpy snickered and I forced a laugh. I quickly ate the rest of my food in silence, pretending to listen to Taylor nad Sharypay's interesting conversation about the difference between boys and pigs, which from their point of view were very few. **(A/N: No offense to boys or pigs. That's their point of view, not mine.)

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_No one's POV_

The shrill whistle blew, echoing through the clearing, causing the chattering of the campers to end abruptly

"OKAY, I will call the register, then I want you to run TEN laps, no stopping!" the coach ordered. A series of groans passed through the nine campers, like an oceans wave. They trudged warily towards the coach and formed a circle around him.

"Harper!?"

"Present and correct." A high voice piped from the back of the crowd.

"Jackson?"

"Here."

"Evans?"

"Here."

"Truscott?" Lily raised her hand, finding no point in speaking

"Rodriquez?"

"Here."

"Toejam and Wilder??"

"Yo, we're here" Wilder answered, ruffling Toejam's dark shaggy hair.

"Montez?"

"Present!" Gabriella mumbled, returning to her hushed conversation with Lilly, Rebecca and Brooke. She didn't notice the teenager that had just come, running in to the clearing, panting slightly, trying to get his damp hair out of his eyes. He smirked at her, but she didn't see him.

"Bolton?"

"Here." Troy smirked as Gabriella's head snapped up and their eyes locked. She seemed to be hyperventilating. This was it. They had nearly EVERY single class together, and she could guess whose fault it was. Either he was going to quit, or she would drop out if the camp.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, I'll try and update either tomorrow, or the day after, no promises made.**

**Chow for now. Ta.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Enjoy.

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**Taking a deep breath, Gabriella sprinted to catch up with Troy's much longer strides. Once she caught up with him, she slowed down. Troy smirked and turned to face her, raising his eyebrows. Her cropped black sleeveless tee was showing off her flat, tanned stomach, her short gym shorts rode up higher as her long bronze legs took powerful strides to match his, her inky curls were pulled up into a tight ponytail, perched at the top of her head, reaching just below her shoulders. Troy forcefully removed his eyes from her perfect body, and looked ahead of him.

"This is far from over." Gabriella breathed, turning her head to glare at him. She felt her heart lurch into her throat and everything around her and Troy disappear, like they were the only two on the planet. His biceps were bulging out of his sleeveless _WILDCATS _shirt, his shaggy brown, was rising and falling as he moved his body from one foot to the other.

"Do you jog often?" He asked, ignoring her threat. They were now on the third lap, and not one bead of sweat glistened on his perfect face. It took a while for the question to register in her head. She closed her eyes for a second. It felt as though there was an archaeologist in her head, chipping away at her skull with a giant axe. She reopened her eyes.

"Not like this." She managed to choke out, she clenched her fists tightly and tried to inhale, it felt as though millions of tiny invisible hands were trying to wrench her heart out of her fragile chest.

"Are you okay?" Troy's voice, shook slightly as they were on the seventh lap. His tone sounded slightly humorous. He looked back. There were only three people behind them, Lilly Truscott, Toejam, and Wilder.

Wilder threw his head back and laughed at something Toejam said, when he tripped over a fallen body. He fell with a loud "THUMP". Toejam laughed and caught up with Lilly, and winked at her. Lilly groaned and rolled her eyes. She increased her strides and soon caught up with Troy and Gabriella. Her eyes widened as she noticed Gabriella's state.

'Is she okay?' she mouthed to Troy who smirked, nodding.

Lap ten.

"Six more steps, you can do it, [exhale]" Gabriella breathed to herself, over and over again.

"Say something to him." She heard a voice say to her. Painfully, she turned her towards the source. Lilly was slowing down next to her, beads of sweat pouring down her face, her breath coming out in short gasps. Gabriella arched her bushy eyebrows at her,

"What are you talking about?"

"Gabby, we all know you like Troy." Lilly stated. Gabriella stopped running and clamped her hand tightly over Lilly's mouth, causing the blonde to skid to a stop. Gabriella's mocha eyes searched wildly for Troy, he was way in front of them, just about to run across the finish line.

"Who's 'we'" she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. Lilly removed her hand forcefully from her mouth.

"The whole camp." Lilly replied. The pounding in Gabriella's head returned, as her fragile heart throbbed painfully in her. Her knees went weak, as she panted, trying to refill her lungs with oxygen. Everything around here seemed to be moving at super-sonic speed. She grabbed Lilly for support. Lilly held her arms and hoisted her up. "Are you…"

"Is she okay?" a voice interrupted her. Troy appeared beside Lilly and quickly wound his arm around Gabriella's waist, to help her up. Lilly shrugged and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. Gabriella leaned limply into Troy's side. "I'll take her to the nurse. " Troy said, just as Brooke came jogging up towards them.

"W… I can take her, with Brooke?" Lilly suggested, pulling Gabriella's limp body closer to her.

"Hey, what's up with her?" Broke asked, panting slightly

"She, unlike you, ran the full ten laps. Where did you stop anyway?" Lilly accused, not noticing as Troy pried Gabriella from Lilly's tiny fingers.

"Brie?" he whispered silently into her ear, as her eyelids dropped.

_Gabi's POV_

"Ugh, my head hurts." I moaned, forcing her eyes open. Everything around me was white, I could hear distant whispers all around me.

'FART!!!'

"Good heavens, Chad!" someone hissed. I suddenly caught a whiff of something that stunk like already processed beans, I wrinkled my nose and heard a familiar chuckle.

"What? I had beans for breakfast." I heard Chad's familiar voice murmur.

I tried to sit up, but I felt familiar hands push me back onto the soft mattress. As my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I could make out faint silhouettes, about six.

"Lie down, you need to rest." I heard Troy say. I relaxed and settled into the pillows.

"We were so worried, Gabby. We thought it was a serious asthma attack." Taylor sounding slightly worried.

"Yeah, I had to cancel my 'pretty girl' class." Sharpay complained, I could tell she was filing her nails.

"Shar, for the last time, it's a 'petty girl' class." Taylor snapped.

"Pretty girl." Sharpay argued. I heard Taylor groan in frustration, my mood exactly. I really wanted to know what happened, why I was lying in the camp nurse's office. I stifled a yawn.

"What happened?" I yawned, suddenly feeling tired. I felt something warm and soft caress my cheek, causing my heart to accelerate in my chest. The touch continued and I felt my eyes close. I felt as though I was stuck in cloud nine, unable to breathe, think or talk. A loud beeping brought me back to reality. My eyes flew open.

"Great," I heard Taylor exhale angrily. "We have two hours to get ready for the bonfire party."

"No we have, like, five." Chad corrected. There was loud slap, and Chad yowled in pain, I guessed he got hit.

"Let's go." Sharpay spoke this time. There was a lot of shuffling and murmuring, as they all left the room. I suddenly felt alone. Then the "something warm 'thing'" caressed my face again. I looked up and I met the bluest eyes I'd ever seen in my life.

"Wow…" I whispered. I heard a chuckle as I realized I'd just spoken out loud. I felt my cheeks heat up, very sure that it was visible.

"I'd say the same thing about you." Troy said, and next thing I knew, his lips were pressed softly against mine…

**A/N: They finally kissed, I positively did not like it, in my opinion, it was rushed.**


	14. Chapter 14

As I let the icy water run over my body, my mind always wandered back to Troy's _amazing _lips, the way they felt against mine. But in my opinion, it felt like it only lasted for a millisecond, it was really fast. One minute it was there, next it was gone. I knew he felt it was wrong, if I wasn't still in shock, I would have told him it was the most amazing kiss I'd ever had, but he left just as the shock drained from my body. I hated him for making me feel this way. I would give absolutely anything to feel his lips again, against mine, warm, soft, and… I couldn't find the right words, they were utterly indescribable. I closed my eyes and tried to push everything about him out of my head.

I stepped out of the tub after a solid 5 minute shower of ice cold water. I grabbed my cream towel and wrapped it tightly around my body. I dried my hair a couple of times before I opened the bathroom door and peered out into the empty hallway. Everyone else had already set off for the bonfire-party-thing. I opened the door to my bedroom, and without bothering to close the door, I skipped –and slid, but did not fall – to my dresser and began taking comfortable clothes out.

"Gabby, hurry up and get dressed, we're waiting!" I heard Taylor call. Slipping on a pair of gray sweats and a tank-top, I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail and stepped into Chad's room.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked Taylor. She paused from halfway through searching his top drawer. I kicked aside an empty pizza box, before "trying" to make my way towards Taylor, avoiding the many "unknown" obstacles littering the floor. I picked up what looked like a white shirt with yellow stains from his bed and held it at arms length. Something that looked like a green chilli-cheese dog fell out from one of the sleeves and fell with a loud "SPLAT" on the floor. I dropped the shirt and took a cautious step back.

"Chad owes me $20, and he's always coming up with excuses as to why he doesn't have my money, so I'm taking something of value to him until he can find the money to pay up his debt." She explained. She lifted a pair of pink; unicorn patterned boxers and waved them in front of my face, laughing like a maniac. "I thought Bolton was lying all those times, but it doesn't seem so." Stuffing the boxers back in the drawer she turned to me, "Speaking of Bolton, what happened when we left, you guys were really quiet?" she stared at me with the "tell me everything" look. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, and I looked away from her and pretended to be interested in a bowl of mousse, with raisins sitting on top of a "#8" _WILDCATS_ jersey.

"Hey, what about his basketball?" I suggested in an attempt to change the subject from me.

"No, how do you expect me to get that, he carries it wherever he goes. And do not change the subject." Taylor snapped, eyeing the mousse. "Who puts raisins in chocolate mousse… and why are they mov… okay that is sick. It's only been like two weeks, I'm not even going to go there. Tell me what happened with you and Troy." She spoke in an ordering tone.

"Do tell, I'm waiting." I heard a different voice speak. Sharpay strutted into the room, holding a familiar looking _WILDCATS _hoodie and a pair of boxer shorts. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Have you been going through Troy's under wear drawer?" I accused, curious, and also in an attempt to drive the accusations from. She feigned hurt and gave off her signature pout,

"Me, going through a guy's underwear?! I'm hurt, how could you think such a thing?" She gasped, she held Troy possessions up and smiled devilishly, "What's say we have a little fun with the boys, huh, girls?"

"I like the way you think." Taylor said from behind me. I hesitated, Troy had been exceptionally nice to me lately, "Come on, Gabriella, have a little fun. 'He who hesitates is lost'" she said in a warning tone, wagging her index finger like a nagging mother.

"Or 'she'" Taylor muttered, picking out a green vest from Chad's drawer, and held it close to her nose. She made a gagging sound and threw it back in the already cramped drawer.

"What about the bonfire thing?" I asked cautiously. Sharpay waved her hands dramatically.

"Oh, screw that, we've got bigger fire wood to burn"

"The term is 'bigger fish to fry'." Taylor corrected, pushing the open drawer shut with her knuckles. I had a sudden idea.

"You know what, count me in." I smirked, glaring at the hoodie in Sharpay's thin fingers. She held up her hand, close to my face.

"Up top, girlfriends." She jeered, her smile broadening. I gave her a high five, and so did Taylor. "Operation 'GTB' is in action."

"What exactly is that?" Taylor asked. Sharpay shrugged, smiling playfully.

"I don't know."

**A/N: Help, with any prank ideas, or anything the girls can use.**


	15. Chapter 15

_An hour earlier with the boys, in the cabin_

"So, dude. You got a date for the bonfire thing?" Troy questioned, twirling the orange ball on his forefinger. He was lying on the small couch in the miniature living room, his large hand resting beneath his head. Chad froze from halfway through stuffing a handful of popcorn in his mouth, a look of disbelief and disgust spread across his face.

"Dude, you are not my type!" he choked. Zeke snickered from where he was sitting, on the single armchair in the room. He leaned forward and scooped a handful of the buttered popcorn from the large bowl, sitting next to Chad's brown elbow.

"I'm not an expert in relationships, between two different people, from the same or different genders, but I'm pretty sure he was asking, questioning, querying whether you had a date, partner, not implying that he wanted you to take him, as a date plus I don't think he's that kinda guy. Cause that would be so, absolutely, utterly, undoubtedly, very, gross, sick, sickening, disgusting." Zeke explained. Troy chuckled as Chad's mouth fell open,

"Been reading the girls 'chick' magazines?" Troy teased. Using his elbow to prop himself up. Zeke blushed as Chad snickered, attempting to grab the ball from Troy's large hands but he quickly pulled it back.

"No," he mumbled, "I was reading tips on how to win a girls heart on the back of a _Be__tty Crocker _box." He snapped, avoiding their amused gazes. He stuffed three bits of popcorn in his mouth hurriedly.

"Any way, are you going with anyone the bonfire, thing?" Chad asked, grabbing another handful of popcorn, and stuffing it all in his mouth and causing his face to resemble a bloated cow. **(No offense to cows.) **

"I'm thinking I'll go with Anisa, or maybe dump her for Chelsea." Troy shrugged boredly. Chad arched his bushy eyebrows at his best friend, suddenly feeling sorry for him.

"Thinking about how to ask Montez?" Chad questioned understandingly. Troy groaned, he had just managed to remove everything about her from his messed up mind, when Chad had to try and play "the understanding" friend, out of nowhere. He closed his eyes and swore he could feel her soft curls running through his fingers, her angelic giggle floating through his ear-drums, like sweet, soft music. The unexplainable sparks he felt whenever they touched or her coffee eyes met his, sending a spiral of shock waves through his entire body. He had been such an idiot, he kissed her, then left her, just like that even before she had the chance to open her eyes and yell at him. He was a coward, and he knew it. She was his weakness, ever since she moved to Albuquerque, in fifth grade. Chad had accused him of following her around like a sick puppy, but he denied it. And what frightened him even more was the way she looked at him, a look of pure hatred, hate, detestation, loathing, dislike, revulsion, repugnance, any word linked to "hate" would be a good way to describe her "outside" feeling towards him. Sometimes he felt as though she would puke at the mere sight of him.

"Earth-to-Troy." Zeke yelled, snapping his fingers in Troy's face, interrupting his fantasy. Troy opened his eyes and glared at the dark skinned basketball player. "He was totally fantasizing about her." He murmured to Chad, who laughed,

"I'm going to get ready for the bonfire."Troy scowled, pushing himself of the couch, letting the ball fall to the ground, which Chad quickly scrambled for.

"Aww, are you okay." Zeke said teasingly in a sickly sweet voice. Troy gave him the finger and strode out of the room angrily. Zeke high-fived Chad, triumphantly.

_Present time with the guys_

"That was the most _boring_ story I ever heard, seriously, who wants to hear about how much toejam the average athlete has in their feet."Chad shuddered, pushing the heavy front door open. "Did they even notice us leave?"

"Don't think so," Troy yawned "I'm stumped, I think I'll hit the sack," he gazed around curiously, kicking his shoes off, "Do you think the girls are in?"

"Well, I didn't see them at the bonfire." Zeke sighed lazily dragging his feet towards his room. Chad groaned, 'Party poopers' he thought to himself. Troy stepped into his room, and was immediately greeted by uncomfortable darkness. He trained his fingers lightly over the wall until he found the light switch. Slowly he flicked it and immediately felt something cold, light and foamy cover his face. A series of identical high pitched screams echoed through the silent cabin.

_With the girl._

Gabriella clamped her hand tightly over her mouth as the screams rang through her eardrums. She turned to her laptop, and could see Taylor and Sharpay giggling silently. Sharpay held up five fingers to the screen, a devious smirk plastered on her glossy lips, and slowly counted down,

_With the guys Troy's POV_

I felt a scream build up in my throat, and find its way out of my dry lips. Blinded, I searched wildly for a towel or anything to wipe the unknown thing covering my face. Something squelched underneath me, as my feet buried in some, thick sticky substance, I lost my balance, and screamed again as I was pushed forward, I held my hands out in front of me, as though it would help me slow down, it did nothing. My feet slid out from underneath me, and I fell flat on my butt. I could hear the same commotion in the room next to mine. I frowned and tried to lift myself up, after several tries, I was standing straight, trying to keep balance. A scream nearby and a "thump" caused me to jump and loose my balance, this time falling on my front, with another loud "squelch".

I was suddenly greeted by a bright light, and a giggling angel.

"Gotcha, suckers!!" it screamed, and I was suddenly pelted with soft, tiny fur balls, or marshmallows. I could hear Chad and Zeke screaming unintelligible words. I managed to wipe a bit of the foamy thing from my eyes, just in time to see a bush of black curls disappear from my door.

"Montez." I growled, angrily pushing myself off the slippery floor, this time, by some miracle, I didn't fall. I slid all the way out of my room, and winced in pain as I crashed against her closed door. I tried forcefully turning the knob, it was locked. I looked to my side just as Zeke stormed out of his room, fuming, covered in syrup, or what looked to be shaving cream or whipped cream. Without looking at me he began banging Sharpay's door, yelling and threatening. I tried the knob one more time, before an idea struck me.

I took one step, when the ground suddenly disappeared from my feet, and I landed on a hard body.

"Get the #$&% off me!" Chad screamed angrily, writhing beneath me.

"Those girls are so dead." I muttered under my breath. Forcefully, Chad pushed me off him and stormed to Taylor's door, copying Zeke's unsuccessful actions. I crawled into my room, and quickly pulled open my cupboard door. Gripping the handles tightly, I pulled myself to my full height, and pushed my clothes aside, revealing the secret door, which led to various other rooms, including the brunette I was out to get…

_Gabi's POV_

"Phase one, complete." Sharpay snickered, blowing on her manicured finger nails. I smiled, as did Taylor.

"We wake up at the crack of dawn, set your alarms, girls. The fun has only just begun." Taylor howled dramatically.

"Operation 'GTB' is in action, again." I mumbled, smiling broadly, "Goodnight." I giggled, leaning forward to shut my laptop, after they said goodnight. I pushed it off the bed and stood up, making my way to my dressing table, with my back to my closet,

"Payback, can I get a hug?" a voice sounded from behind me. I gasped and my hand flew to my chest as I spun around…

**A/N: Like? Or not? Read and review.**

**Chow for now.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'd like to thank **_**independantHSMFAN23 **_**and **_**iLoveDisneyForever **_**for the prank ideas. Enjoy.**

"Oh my gosh!" Gabriella screamed, taking a hasty step back. Troy smirked and walked forward, covered in syrup and shaving cream. She took another step back and her hip hit the edge of the table. "Don't touch me." She warned. Troy chuckled and suddenly lunged forward, enclosing her tiny body in his muscular and sticky arms. She screamed and began pounding her tiny fists against his chest. Gabriella scowled and folded her arms across his chest. "You smell like sugar." She complained, finding enough strength to push him away.

"And whose fault is that?"

Gabriella pouted and began wiggling her sticky fingers. "Ugh, it feels like slime." She complained, gazing down at her dirty pajamas. Troy chuckled and took her hands in his, sending electric sparks shooting through her veins. He pressed her fingers lightly against his lips. "Why do you keep doing that?" she snapped rhetorically, snatching her fingers from his mouth. Troy lips stretched into a crooked smile.

"There might be a storm tonight." Troy whispered, "Call me if you need anything." He winked, and unlocked her bedroom door and walked out of her room.

Chad was on his hands and knees, just in front of Taylor's closed door, he was cursing under his breath his fingers trailing the hardwood floor, searching for something. Troy shook his head.

"Come back when you're done." He heard a timid voice from behind him. He smiled and turned slightly. Gabriella was standing where she had stood before, looking down and playing with her fingers.

"I will."

_Gabi's POV_

"Tay, I think I like him." I whispered into the mouth piece of my cell phone. It was around 4:30 in the morning and I was sitting on the cold bathroom floor, holding my knees tightly to my chest. Troy was still asleep on my bed, snoring silently.

"Who?" she yawned, I could hear the rustle of sheets on her side. I waited. "No freaking way. Troy? What about Derek?" A gasp found its way to my lips. I sat up quickly, I had completely forgotten about my date.

"Tay, Derek, I completely forgot, he's going to hate me." I began panicking. I gripped the phone tightly in my hands.

"No he won't." Taylor said simply, "So you like a certain blue-eyed basketball captain. Well is it serious? Do you feel anything unusual or strange when you're around him?" she sounded quite interested.

"You always accused me of liking him, why is it coming as a shock to you all of a sudden?" I questioned, letting the "Derek" thought slip out of my mind.

"Because you finally admitted it. You should tell him." I felt my heart freeze in my chest. I couldn't tell him anything.

"I can't!" I nearly screamed, remembering on the last minute that Troy was in the next room. Taylor sighed.

"Yes, you should, now goodbye. We have about less than 20 minutes, before 'you know what'" Before I could say another word, she hung up. I sighed and removed the phone from my ear.

"Gabriella…" I heard someone call from the other side of the door. I jumped and shakily stood up.

"Y-yeah." I stammered and made my way to the door and opened it. Troy was standing on the other side, looking tired and concerned. He looked so cute.

_No one's POV_

"Are you okay?" he asked stepping forward. Gabriella nodded. She shuddered as he placed his hands on her tiny waist, and pulled her close to him. She pushed him away almost immediately. He dropped his hands in confusion and tilted his head.

"Please don't." she whispered, walking past him and plopping down on her bed. Troy sat next to her, and turned his body so he was facing her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking hurt. "Did I hurt you?" Gabriella shook her head.

"I'm just tired." She lied, feigning a yawn. "What would you do if a girl told you they were totally in…" she trailed off, feeling suddenly shy. Troy cupped her cheek and forced her to look up at him. She smiled, even in the dark his eyes glowed.

"If a girl told me 'what'." He asked cautiously stroking her cheek softly.

"That they were in love with you?" she blurted, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. Troy arched his eyebrows and scrunched up his nose.

"Depends on which girl." He said, matter-of-factly. He leaned forward until their foreheads touched. Gabriella looked down, a blush creeping onto her face. "Look at me." He sighed and swallowed deeply, "I want to tell you something, but I'm worried about your reaction." He inhaled deeply as Gabriella's coffee brown eyes locked with his. He opened his mouth, but shut it again. "You were planning on playing a prank on us again, right?" he chuckled, pulling his forehead away from hers. Gabriella couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. She shrugged,

"Maybe…" she forced a giggle. Troy tackled her onto the bed and began tickling her. She squealed and began giggling. "Troy!" she laughed. Troy smiled and tickled her harder.

"Pranksters must be punished."

"I can't breathe!" she gasped, trying to grab his hands. Troy poked her sides one more time before stopping and rolling off her. He kissed her temple lightly and smiled to himself as her giggles subsided. Once she was free of laughter, she rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. "I don't like you." She hissed pouting. Troy chuckled and leaned forward, pressing a light kiss on the tip of her nose. Gabriella blushed. She yawned.

"Goodnight, again." Troy smiled at her cuteness.

"Goodnight." She whispered. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. "This 'love-hate relationship is annoying, how about a truce?" She held out a hand. Troy took it.

"Truce. No more arguments, and no more insults."

Gabriella leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away quickly, a triumphant smile playing at her lips.

"Sealed with a kiss."

**A/N: I'll try and make them longer next time. R&R**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Enjoy. WARNING: This chapter might just be a little more T-ish, or M-ish than my usual ones.  


* * *

**_1 and a half weeks later_

The suns golden rays shimmered on the green-blue surface of the still lake, awaiting the seventeen students crowding silently around it. Gabriella gazed unconsciously at the glimmering surface, hardly paying attention to the counselors yelled instructions.

"Hey." a low growl sounded fro behind her, thrusting her out of her daydream. She jumped and turned slightly. A wide smile formed on her plump red lips as her cocoa orbs locked with the familiar aquamarines. Troy smiled and laced his scorching fingers with hers, a gesture Gabriella was sure she'd never get used to. "I'm going to beat you bad." he breathed huskily against her ear, causing the tiny hairs on her body to become erect.

"We'll see about that." she murmured challengingly. Troy chuckled and lightly brushed his lips against her earlobe. She shivered involuntarily, and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Wanna bet?" he asked, his low husky voice sounding challenging. His lips hovered above her bare shoulder as he blew against her golden skin. Gabriella nibbled nervously on her bottom lip, stifling a moan, she managed a nod before shutting her eyes tightly. "You win, I'll be at your service the whole day, and if I win..." he trailed off, then pressed his thin lips against her burning skin, "You'll cancel your date with Rogers." he whispered against her skin. Gabriella froze and tilted her head slightly to glare at him, her eyes forming slits.

"What?" she hissed quietly. Troy trailed his fingers over the short erect hairs on her arm, and pressed his lips lightly against the nape of her neck.

"Brie, you don't know him as well as I do, and trust me when I say he's bad news."

"Troy, please... He's a nice guy. Plus, it's none of your business who I date." She gasped as his warm tongue brushed against her skin. "Troy!" she hissed a bit too loud, earning stares and a few glares from the girls. Troy chuckled and kissed the corner of her lips teasingly. He let go of her hand and quickly ran it through her soft waves. Her eyes drifted shut, as she felt herself drift up to cloud nine **(A/N: Why "nine"?)**.

She was brought back to Earth suddenly when a series of loud splashes rung through her ear drums, and the cold salty water sprayed her face. Her eyelids flew open and she gazed around at the empty grass in confusion.

"Montez!!!" the counselors bellowed, blowing his whistle harshly. Gabriella jumped and quickly dove into the cold icy depths. She quickly swam as fast as she could, suddenly regretting the fact that she had forgotten to stretch. Finally, she caught a glimpse of a pair of peachy feet. Again, she pushed her cold muscles harder, knowing that at the end of the day, she would be sore, but she wasn't ready to give Troy the satisfaction of gloating that he won. Filling her fragile lungs with oxygen, she pushed her head beneath the water and put her arm and leg muscles to good use.

_Faster, Montez!_ she urged herself as her lungs battled for air. The splashes were now quite silent, and the cone was now visible, bobbing along the horizon.

_Gabi's POV_

I could almost hear Troy's gloating voice in my head, no matter how hard I tried to push it out, it somehow always came back. I kicked my legs harder, and could feel my eyes sting from the salt and all the other things maybe contaminating the water. Unable to take the stinging anymore, I shut my eyes. Then everything went slowly. My head slammed against something against something hard, knocking all the oxygen out of my body. I felt faint, and the organs in my chest burned painfully beneath my ribs. It felt as though everysingle one of my cells stopped working, as I clawed and kicked frantically, trying to reach the surface. My eyes began closing, as the sickly tasting water ran down my throat. The last thing I felt before everything went black, was the muddy soil beneath my feet and something warm caressing my arm. My throat burned, and my brain went fuzzy. I was going to die, I knew it. And what hurt the most was the fact that I might never see my family, and I'd never tell Troy how I really felt about him...

_Troy's POV_

As my hand closed around the bobbing cone, I resurfaced, beaming triumphantly. I beat her.

I filled my lungs, before letting my eyes trail over to where she had been earlier. In the distance, I could see the other campers, swimming closer to me. I beamed and looked back to where Gabriella should have been. Panic gripped at my insides as I scanned the still waters.

_Maybe she took a shortcut._ I tried convincing myself, but for some reason I wasn't quite sure.

"Gabriella!" I called over the loud invisible wind. Nothing. Again, I sucked in a sharp breath and bellowed louder, "GABRIELLA!!!" Still nothing, I could feel the worry clenching in my stomach. Then something caught my eye. A mane of familiar black hair disappearing beneath th surface. My eyes widened and I did the first thing that came to mind, I dove in after her...

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I did not actually plan for this to happen, it was kind of like a spur in the moment. Review please.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Enjoy.  
**

* * *

Troy panted desperately as he pulled the limp body onto the muddy sand. He pressed his palm against her colorless, blue skin. He pushed the wet hair from her face and pressed his ear against her chest. He could hear the faint beat of her heart against her fragile ribs.

She was still alive.

_PHEW!!!_

* * *

_Two days later_

_Troy's POV_

I gazed at her pale motionless face, silently begging her to wake up. I ran my fingers down her cold cheek, stroking her ashy lips with my thumb.

"Ella..." I whispered to no one. I took her hand and pressed it against my cheek. I kissed her wrist and stared at her closed eyelids.I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, but I chose to ignore it.

"Troy? Dude." I heard Chad's distant voice. He sighed and patted my shoulder. I sandwiched Gabriella's hand in mine, stroking her lifeless hand. "Dude, you have to eat something." Chad insisted from behind me.

"She's not dead..." I whispered to myself, squeezing her hand tightly. "She can't be."

_No one POV_

"She's sleeping." Chad snapped, getting slightly impatient with his friend. He dug his fingers into Troy's shirt. Troy shrugged his heavy hand off and shut his eyes tightly, holding back the tears threatening to fall.

"Hey, you know we still haven't played the second prank on the guys." Sharpay whispered quietly to Taylor's frigid form. She nodded stiffly and buried her face in her hands, exhaling sharply.

"Maybe when she wakes up..." the tiny African-American trailed off shakily. Chad walked closer to the duo, and slumped heavily onto the seat next to Taylor. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, pressing his lips against her forehead.

"Don't you mean 'if'?" he blurted carelessly. Taylor pulled away from him, a horrified and angered expression on her face. Sharpay grabbed the pillow she'd been leaning on and flung it aimlessly at Chad. It whizzed past his head and went sailing out the widely opened window. There was a loud "THUMP!" and the sound of someone screaming in agony. Sharpay's hazel eyes widened. She cringed into her seat. Troy barely acknowledged the three, his saddened blue eyes stayed on the brunette lying before him. He closed his eyes tightly and pressed her frozen hand against his cheek, missing the soothing warmth. He suddenly jumped, nearly falling out of his seat.

_Had he just imagined it?!_ There it was again. He stared at her face.

"Ella?!" Nothing, but he was sure that she had squeezed his hand. A smile formed on his face, for the first time in three whole days!

"Guys!" he practically screamed. But they were too busy bickering to actually listen. He sighed and buried his face in his large hands, shutting his eyes tightly, letting the salty tears cascade down his bronze face.

_"Troy..._

* * *

_Gabi's POV_

I squinted my eyes, as the bright white light shone in my face, causing my eyes to sting.

_Ella..._

I heard a familiar voice in the distance. As my vision cleared, I glanced frantically around myself. Everything seemed to go on forever. White and empty. I looked down, feeling suddenly self conscious as I realized I was naked!

_She's not dead... _I gasped as the familiar voice floated through my ears. I whirled around, expecting to see the familar blue pools. I was met by more white. I shuddered, feeling cold. I wrapped my arms around my bare chest.

_She can't be._

"Troy!" I called. My voice shook slightly from lack of use. There was no reply. I curiously walked forward, my bare feet padding noisily against the hard tiled surface. I suddenly felt as though I was being watched. There was a deep gurgling sound in the distance, and next thing I knew, I was lying on my back, with the familiar stinging on the side of my head. My eyes shut. Something warm slid into my hands. I squeezed tightly, trying to ease myself from the pain.

_Ella?!_

My eyes flew open...

"Troy."

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_No one's POV_

"Troy."

Troy's head shot up. His cerulean widened to the size of two moons as he gazed at the small stirring body lying beneath the plain white sheets. His faltering heart rose to his throat as the brunettes eyelids rose, revealing the recognizable chocolate brown eyes he'd grown to love. He leaned forward hastily, and buried his wet face in her thinning hair. he pressed his lips against the familiar, warm skin of her forehead, a satisfied smile creeping on to his once-emotionless face. He heard a croaky giggle beneath him, causing him to pull back quickly and gaze curiously at Gabriella.

"You look _ecstatic_ to see me?" she croaked, a hint of sarcasm laced into her hoarse voice. Troy beamed proudly down at her, glad the rest of the gang were oblivious to the two.

"More than you could ever imagine." he sighed, his warm breath blew in her face. He crushed his lips against hers. Gabriella closed her eyes tightly. Troy pulled back in what seemed to last less than a second. He lightly rested his forehead against hers and nuzzled her nose affectionately, causing her to erupt in raspy giggles.

"OH. MY. GOSH!!!" a squeal from behind them suddenly broke the moment between the two, as Troy instinctively pushed himself away from the small trembling figure.

"GABS!" Troy moved away from the bed as best as he could as it was rapidly clustered with excited bodies. The smile stayed plastered on Troy's face as he stepped out of the room, noiselessly and unnoticed. The hall was quite empty, except for the occasional patient, taking a stroll, followed closely by a nurse.

He dug his freezing hands in his pocket and let his feet lead him through the passage, to where he was sure Gabriella's parents were, perhaps with the spotted them, talking intently with the doctor. Mrs. Montez turned and her dark mocha eyes locked with Troy joy-filled blue pools. He sent her a warm smile and a tiny nod. A wide smile spread across the aging woman's tear-stained face. She said something hurriedly to her husband and the auburn haired female doctor, who smiled and began making her way to Gabriella's room.

Troy carried on walking, letting his sore feet drag him to the entrance of the large hospital. There was a park right ahead, and without a moments thought, he found himself making his way towards a vacant bench, in the silent, empty and mysterious park. He plopped down on the bench and closed his eyes, resting his head against the bench.

"Twoy! Gotcha!" Troy's eyes flew open at the sound of the sweet, child's voice, yelling his name. His eyes widened as they landed on the two familiar kids running around the park that he thought to be empty.

"No! You cheat, Gabwiewwa!" the boy snapped, crossing his arms angrily across his chest. Older Troy chuckled at them, finding it a little strange that they both resembled two people he knew so well. He gasped as the two four-or-five years old blurred, only to reappear in a different part, looking older and wearing different clothes. The girl was rolling around on the damp grass with a puppy (spaniel), giggling happily as the tiny brown puppy jumped on her, attempting to lick her flushed face. The boy stood a little way off, looking mad and hesitant, his blond eyebrows raised.

"Be cawefuw Wabby, it's gonna eat your face!" the boy yelled in a warning voice. Troy gazed at he two, laughing quietly to himself as the memories that had been locked at the back of his head for years unfold in front of him. The puppy suddenly turned and ran towards the boy, tripping over it's large ears. A look of fright and surprise wove onto Little-Troy's face. Without warning, it jumped on him, it's long pink, moist tongue running over his face. He spluttered and fell back, trying to push the over-excited canine away from him.

"Get your dog off me!" He yelled.

The memory faded.

"Mommy, but I didn't say goodbye." Troy looked up. His eyes locked on a tiny blond boy, clinging tearfully to a tall grim faced woman. The woman sighed and grabbed the the crying boys arm.

"I know, honey. And I'm sorry. But they're gone." The woman explained in a pleading voice.

Troy sighed and looked away from the pair, feeling his eyes begin to sting. _What if she never left?_ He thought to himself, gazing at his large hands._ Would we still have been friends for all those years? Would she feel the same way I feel?_ The questions swirled around in his head, causing his vision to blur.

"Yo, dude." He blinked at the sound of Chad's voice and looked up at the bushy haired boy standing in front of him. "Gabs wants you." He beamed, turning away. Troy felt a proud smile over come his features as he shot up from the bench. Chad snickered to himself, as he followed Troy up the path towards the parks entrance.

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**A/N: I did not like this chapter. Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: the original plot was supposed to take place at camp, but I decided to finish off the rest at EHS, so don't be surprised if everything starts happening really, really fast. I'm really stuck with "My Best friend or my boyfriend?" HELP!!!???**

**Enjoy.**

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_One week later_

_Gabi's POV_

I clipped the silver hoop earring to my earlobe, and nervously smoothed my long sleeved-navy shirt over my stomach, trying to flatten it. I hadn't gone on a date in almost two years, and I felt really nervous. I wiped my clammy hands against my jeans, and pushed my hair away from my head, pinning the loose strands with a bobby pin. I gazed anxiously at myself in the mirror, pointing out the visible flaws to Sharpay and Taylor.

"Oh, come on. You look cute." Taylor urged. I sighed, and pulled my shirt lower. Taylor pushed a dark, flower printed head band in my hair. "Done." I forced a smile, and glanced nervously at my outfit.

Sharpay pulled out a tiny bottle of hot pink lip gloss. "Keep this in your pocket, trust me, you'll need it." I stuffed the tiny tube in my jean pocket.

"How do I look?" I asked, twirling around. Taylor beamed and gave me the Thumbs up, while Sharpay waved her hands, a gesture she used quite frequently. Translation-: "I've seen better."

I grabbed the tiny shoulder bag, Taylor held out for me. "I'm ready!"

_No one's POV_

"Have fun!" Taylor called out from the back door as she watched Gabriella's small silhouette retreat towards the evening sun.

"Um... hey, Gabriella." the deep masculine voice floated through her ear drums. She smiled and turned towards the voice."You look... wow" A blush crept onto her semi-dark face, as she glanced down shyly at her feet, letting her dark waves shield her crimson face. She gazed at him through her thick black lashes.

"Thank you. So do you." She commented, examining her dates' attire. A navy hoodie, dark, faded jeans, and black _Converse _sneakers. He held out his large hand which she took hesitantly. She flinched as the cold skin came into contact with hers. A shudder ran down her spine at the new temperature, she was so used to the familiar warm body.

"Are you cold?" He asked, "concern" laced in his voice as he tilted his head, his shaggy blond hair falling to the side in a way that was meant to look attractive.

_Pssh, I've seen better_. Gabriella thought to herself, avoiding the emerald green eyes staring at her. She shrugged her shoulders nervously and kept her dark eyes on the muddy path. "No." she said flatly. She gasped softly as Derek pulled her to his side and locked his arm around her waist.

"So, what was it like, being in a coma and nearly drowning?" he questioned randomly. Gabriella felt herself cringe at the sudden question. She sucked harshly on the skin of her bottom lip. The invisible wind whipped at her hair, filling her ears. She sighed before answering.

"It was weird, I mean, I wasn't aware of anything that was going on."

"Wasn't, kind of cool?"

Gabriella puckered her lips and rested her head against his shoulder. "If I knew what was going on, I don't think it would be. It's like 'you're between life and death'."

"Oh." She felt him nod slightly.

"So, are we almost there yet?"She questioned, the nervousness winding its way through her system again. Derek exhaled noisily and around the tree-filled land.

"Not really." Gabriella lifted her head from his shoulder, feeling her neck cramping from the uncomfortable position. "We'll be there before you know it." Derek assured her, patting her side lightly. An awkward silence followed, broken only by the forest creatures and the occasional rustle of leaves and snapping of twigs.

"So, tell me more about yourself." Gabriella sighed, a subject she hated.

"Um, there's really nothing much. I live in New Mexico, I'm a geek. I move a lot. My mom is always working. Taylor and Sharpay are my BFFs, for life." She concluded, "And I hate Troy Bolton." She felt a proud smile crawl onto his face. _At least I used to. _She thought silently to herself. "Hmm… What about you?"

"Well, let's see. I live in New Mexico, I'm a senior at East High, and I'm the captain of the football team. I hate green food. I've had more girlfriends than detentions (trust me, I get detention a lot), I tried out for volley ball in my freshman year, made the team, hated it, then quit. Why aren't you a cheerleader? You'd look really HOT in one of those uniforms."

Gabriella flushed and pulled away from his iron grasp. "Excuse me?" she snapped venomously.

"N – no, I didn't mean it that way." He stammered quickly, stepping back unsurely. Gabriella exhaled sharply, releasing her sudden anger. She took a step towards him and took his large frigid hand in her tiny one.

"It's okay, I know you didn't." She mumbled, knowing it was a lie. Derek sighed in relief and pulled her close to him. "Forget it." _Let's just get this over with._

They walked in silence the rest of the way, their hands still interlocked.

"We're here." Derek announced, dropping her hand, and walking forward. Gabriella gasped as she gazed at the site before her.

"It's beautiful." She breathed, taking a step forward. Derek smiled and glanced at her, with lust filled eyes.

"Yes, very." He mumbled. He placed his hands on her hips and brought her close to him, crushing her fragile body against his. Gabriella felt herself tense, and she instinctively tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he held her firmly in place. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back as hard as she could.

"Please don't." she begged, avoiding the lust-filled emerald eyes.

"Come on. Just a little bit of fun can't hurt anyone." He insisted, pulling her closer, and breathing against her skin, causing the hairs on her body to become erect. She pushed harder, fear swirling in her blood. Derek groaned angrily and pushed her forcefully, causing her to fall back into a pile of leaves. She felt her arm graze against a sharp branch. She whimpered in pain and pulled her trembling body off the dry leaves. Derek turned away from her and dug his fingers through his spiky hair. "$&!£, I have no idea what Bolton sees in you?! You're a boring geek." He snapped, whipping around to face her. Gabriella cowered back, clenching her fists tightly. He glared at her as he took several steps forward, want written all over his face.

"Don't you DARE touch me!" Gabriella hissed angrily, stepping back again.

"I don't think Bolton will be very happy knowing that I got to £$&% you before him." He sneered. He lunged forward and pushed her down. Gabriella screamed in pain as her back hit the dry floor. She kicked furiously, clawing frantically. Derek grabbed her wrists, bruising them, and pinned them above her head. She opened her mouth to scream, but he leaned down quickly and harshly covered her lips with his. He forcefully straddled her pelvis, pinning her down. His hands worked ferociously on her shirt. A twig snapped noisily in the distance, but Derek ignored it and succeeded in removing the ripped shirt from her bruised body. Derek pushed her deeper into the moist soil. She shut her eyes tightly as she felt his heavy body weight leave hers. It was quickly followed by a series of grunts and the sound of fists connecting with body parts. Unable to move, Gabriella just laid there, her eyes shut tight, and her body limp. After what seemed like forever, she felt a familiar warm palm caress the side of her face. Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Hey." Troy whispered, leaning closer to her trembling frame. Gabriella immediately sat up and flung her thin arms around his muscular neck, ignoring his grunt in pain and surprise. She dropped them after a while and clenched his shirt tightly in her tiny fists, and raised her head up to lock with his sapphire pools. She brought her hand up in one quick motion and connected it to the side of his face with all the remaining force she had. Troy grabbed his cheek in surprise, oblivious to the stinging pain. "Hey!"

"H – how long have you…been here?" She snapped weakly, dropping her hand to his neck. Troy let go of his reddening cheek and rested his hand against hers, bringing it down to his chest.

"Long enough." He muttered, standing up and pulling her with him.

Gabriella's mouth fell open in shock. "You were _stalking_ me?" she hissed. Troy smiled and wrapped his arms protectively around her thin waist.

"Call it what you want. You know, most girls – after going through what you just did – would be crying, depressed, scared and clingy. But you?"

"I'm not like most girls." Gabriella muttered, wrapping her arms around his waist. She stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek softly. Troy beamed and pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her silky bush. "W – where is…" she trailed off, her voice muffled in his shirt.

"Far from here, I would have beaten him to pulp if _you _weren't lying there looking helpless." He chuckled humorously, and pulled her closer, crushing her timid body against his. Gabriella gnawed nervously on her bottom lip, running her tongue across the tip.

"Thanks."

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Troy pulled the light sheets over the petite sleeping body, and watched as her body shook with every breath she took.

"You're so beautiful." He breathed against her soft waves. He kissed the top of her head before pushing himself off the bed. He walked out of the room, flicking the light off on the walked into his room, only to find it occupied. Taylor, Chad, Sharpay and Zeke were strewn across the floor. They all looked up simultaneously as he walked in.

Taylor opened her mouth. "Spill." She ordered, propping herself up onto her elbows.

"Every detail." Sharpay followed, crossing her legs and beaming blushed, and nervously ran his fingers through his hair.

"There's nothing to explain." He lied through his gritted teeth. Zeke scoffed,

"Yeah right, explain why you left immediately after she left for her date, and why you two came together, and why she was wearing your shirt?" He asked, folding his arms across the material covering his muscular built chest.

"Um, she got cold and needed to borrow my shirt." Chad raised his eyebrows at his best friend. Troy sighed. "Fine. Something happened, but it's not my place to tell you." He muttered, opening his door wider. "Out, I'd like some privacy." Taylor ignored him and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Did Derek _try_ anything?" She questioned. Troy shrugged, blocking the images of Derek on top of his girl out of his mind.

"Ask Ella."

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**A/N: Hope you liked it. Review please.**


	20. Chapter 20

**AJ Michalka-Sarah Conners, Aly Michalka-Taylor Tiara, Jessica Origliasso-Herself, Lisa Origliasso-Herself, Amber Ross-Herself, Sarah Ross-herself, Julia Ross-Herself, Zoe Belkin-Rebecca Harper, Vanessa Morgan-Amanda Pierce, Demetrius Joyette-Michael Davies, Justin Kelly-Noah Jackson, Munro Chambers-Wilder, Danielle Panabaker-Layla Williams, Kay Panabaker-Debbie Berwick.  
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**A/N: Enjoy...  
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The dim early morning sun weaved silently through the thin curtains hanging over Gabriella's open window, and shimmered directly on her, cutting into her peaceful slumber. She clutched the small brown bear to her chest, and kicked the heavy sheets from her body. She sighed loudly, her eyes still firmly shut as she kicked her sore legs over the edge of the bed. A shiver traveled up her spine as her warm feet came into contact the cold hard wood.

After a fifteen minute shower, she checked the time. Groaning, she flopped back on her bed, closing her eyes tightly. As the events from the day before flashed through her head, a sudden chill passed over her stretched body.

_What if Troy hadn__'__t been following us? _ She sighed as the unfamiliar images filled her head.

The sound of a door closing brought her out of her grotesque thoughts. She hastily sat up. Slipping on her tennis shoes and grabbing the musky scented _WILDCATS _hoodie, she exited her room. A smile played at the corners of her lips as her eyes landed the familiar hoodie, identical to hers.

"Troy?" she called. He turned, his ultramarine eyes locking with hers, beneath his hoodie.

"Hey." He whispered his voice deep and throaty, from just waking up. He walked closer to her and pulled her to him, crushing her small body against his. She smiled and buried her face in his chest, as he buried his face in her soft waves, drinking in her vanilla scent. "You…" He whispered, kissing the top of her head, and inhaling deeply. "…smell so good." She blushed.

"Where were you going?" she questioned, pulling away from him, but keeping her arms locked around his neck. Troy chuckled as he pressed his lips against her neck.

"For a jog, care to join me?" He murmured against her skin, trying to fit her body into his through their layers of clothing.

"I don't do so well with jogs." She moaned, as his lips traveled up her neck.

"Come on, we won't go far, I promise. Plus, practice makes perfect." He begged, pulling away to look into her chocolate eyes. Gabriella exhaled, succumbing to his pleas.

"Fine. But not far."

"Actually, we could walk." He suggested, kissing her nose lightly. She giggled as she slid her small hands into his large ones.

"Run."

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The humid air blew noiselessly against her face, as she pushed her small legs, running in sync with the boy beside her. A smile of relief crawled across her ashy lips. It was so much easier than before. She picked up speed, finding out that she was able to move faster. Troy grinned as his eyes traveled to the barely panting brunette jogging beside him.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned as they ran through the silent forest. Gabriella exhaled noisily, as she turned to face him, the smile stayed plastered to her face.

"Much better than the last time." She panted.

Troy chuckled. His eyes left hers and traveled to the mossy ground beneath his sneakered feet. Gabriella gnawed shyly at her bottom lip, her large mocha eyes leaving Troy.

"Troysie?!" a familiar scream up ahead of them broke the silence. Gabriella looked up. Anisa's milk chocolate eyes glared at her from beneath her long, dark lashes. Gabriella felt her heart plummet down to her stomach, as the sickly bile traveled up to her throat. She had been so caught up with Troy she'd even forgotten that he and Anisa were an "item". She sighed quietly, running her fingers through her damp hair.

_It was nice while it lasted, Montez_. She told herself sadly as she brought her feet to a slow stop. She tried to ignore the azure eyes that seemed to be drilling holes through the large hoodie hanging off her shoulders.

_Gabi__'__s POV_

I watched Troy walk towards Anisa. I suddenly wished I were her. She had everything, from the looks, to the body and the money. I sighed, how could I have been so stupid to think that Troy would actually fall for someone like me. I was plain, boring, nerdy, geeky, and ugly. I could add a lot more, but my mind was too caught up with the _Royalty_ of East High "reuniting" before me.

Anisa wrapped her twig arms around Troy's neck, while his locked around her waist. Most people believed she was anorexic, and I was certainly one of them. I turned away as they began kissing. In my head, there was a picture of me and Troy under the stars, on a picnic blanket, after he'd already confessed that he was deeply in love with me…

_Never in a million years._

_But he saved me, twice! _I argued with the anti-Troy voice in my head.

_SO???!!!_

I ignored the voice in my head, and looked back again at the "Golden" couple. They were still lip-locking. I groaned and slapped my forehead.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

"WHAT!!!"

I turned around.

Anisa was glaring at Troy, her thin wrist held mid-air in his hand. I was confused. Then Anisa turned to me. If looks could kill, I knew I'd be six feet underground by now. She pulled her wrist from Troy's grasp and stomped over to me. I held my breath sharply as her eyes glared at me; head to toe. I raised my brow at the Queen of &!%*£$ standing before me, her bony hand resting on her cocked hip. I looked over at Troy, who seemed to be gazing at us in amusement.

"Can I help you?" I asked Anisa innocently. I stared at her face. She was really pretty, even beneath all the makeup. She was something I never ever could, or would be. Beautiful, with, or without makeup. She glanced at me. A look of jealousy flashed across her face, but it quickly disappeared, so I took it to be my imagination. I could have sworn I saw her raise her hand, as if to hit me, but seemed to think better of it, and let her hand fall back to her side. She shook her head, her light brown curls dropping from their perch on the top of her head in a high ponytail. I heard her sniffle before turning away from me and running down the path. I stared quizzically at Troy, who now stood beside me, grinning broadly. He took my hand in his as I suppressed a visible shiver. "What just happened?"

Troy smiled, turning to me.

_No one__'__s POV_

"I broke up with Anisa and now she hates both our guts, yours mostly, she blames the whole break up thing on you." Troy paused, looking at Gabriella. Without a moments hesitation, he pushed his thin lips against her plump ones. His large hands tangled in her hair, in an urgent manner, as he tried to pull her body closer to his. Gabriella barely responded, shock, anger, relief, confusion, love, and lust overcame her as his lips touched hers.

Shock: That he had just broken up with his girlfriend, and was kissing her.

Anger: That he had waited this long to break up with Anisa.

Relief: That he wasn't just using her, and that there was a small hint of hope that he cared about her.

Confusion: That Troy Bolton was kissing her after breaking up with his girlfriend. The sudden surge of wanting to be with him, tell him that she loved him, and want.

Her hands tangled in his silky strands as she attempted to pull his lips as close to hers as possible. A soft moan escaped her lips as he ran his moist tongue over her bottom lip. She pulled away, ending the "almost" perfect kiss abruptly. Troy groaned, his eyes still shut tightly. He leaned forward trying to reattach their lips. But Gabriella refused, stepping out of his arms. Troy opened his eyes in confusion as he gazed at Gabriella's face.

"Please, be my girlfriend?"

A smile spread across Gabriella's face as happiness consumed her small body. Her heart was begging her to say yes, but she caught herself. She could almost feel her brain working, beneath her skull.

_He__'__s just going to use you! _The negative voice in her head screamed.

_How can you be so sure?_

_Oh please, look at all the girls he__'__s been with in the past. He dates them for a week, sleeps with them, and then dumps them. He__'__s just going to do the same to you._

Gabriella sighed, the truth really hurt. She caged her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes staring blankly at her twined hands.

"I… I don't think I can…" his face fell. "Just yet." She added. This was _partially _true, after the whole Derek incident, she found herself suddenly edgy around boys, swearing to herself that she wouldn't date until she was in her late forties. Troy looked up, a sparkle of hope laced with disappointment evident in his aquamarine irises.

"When can you?" His usually husky voice pleaded.

"I... I don't know yet." She murmured, looking directly at his face. Troy groaned and threaded his fingers through his hair. "But we can still be friends..."

"$&!%." He looked down, not wanting her to see the pain in his eyes. Gabriella nervously chewed on her bottom lip, reaching out to touch his covered forearm.

"I'm really sorry."

Troy shrugged, and looked up, his golden face blank.

"Come on, let's head back." He forced a fake smile. Gabriella sighed and followed him.

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"Come on, Alex." Gabriella groaned irritatedly. She pushed the large open book towards the younger Latina. Alex pouted, her dark brown eyes traveled down to the open book. "It's easy. Repeat after me. ' Como se llama'..."

Alex groaned. "Como se llama."

"Me llamo Alex."

"I'm Alex, genius."

Layla Williams leaned closer to Gabriella and whispered in her ear. "Hard to believe she's Mexican."

"Hey, I heard that!" Alex snapped, folding her arms across her chest. "Gabriella, I can't do this." She complained, shutting the large book and pushing it away from her.

Gabriella sighed. "Ugh, leave it. Anyways, I'm hungry." She pulled her lunch tray closer to her. Alex giggled, snatching a fish finger from Gabriella's piled tray.

"Ya don't say."

"Hey, ya'll." Miley greeted, plopping down next to Alex. "Hey" chorused across the noisy table. "Can you believe it, no one was in line for the boiled possum feet. These folks have no idea what they're missing out on."

"Yay, for us." Alex choked on the fish finger. Taylor stared at her food, disgusted.

"So, Gabs, Tay. How are things, with the two lover boys, aka; Chad and Troy?" Taylor Tiara asked from across the table. Gabriella looked down, her face a deep crimson.

"Nothing is going on." Taylor Mckessie defended them both angrily. "How could you possibly think that I would e_ver_ date Chad!" She snapped incredulously. Taylor Swift giggled from beside Taylor.

"Ooh lala, Love is in the air." She teased. Taylor frowned (Mckessie).

"Yeah, what about you and that Gray... um, yeah, Shane?" She asked.

"Not so good, anyway, I've moved on." Swift mumbled.

"What about you, Amanda. Has Wilder made a move yet?" Sarah Conners questioned, chewing noiselessly.

Amanda smiled, "Like I would ever say yes." she snapped, stabbing her fork into the green leaves, resting on her plate. Lisa Origliasso opened her mouth to comment, but was immediately interrupted as the distant bell rung.

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Troy sighed, as he let the orange sphere leave his fingers, finding its way to the looming net before him. It went through; making the familiar "swoosh" sound he loved so much. But at that moment, he found himself _not _loving it. He groaned, letting the salty sweat drip off his tanned body and onto the concrete floor, as he reached for the bouncing ball.

"Dude, she totally said 'no'?" Chad questioned again, bouncing his ball rhythmically.

"For the seventh time, YES!" He ran his fingers through his hair, letting the ball fall from his fingers. He dragged his feet to towards the grass, reaching for the small bottle of water sitting next to the white hand towel.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know." He muttered, raising the plastic container to his lips. His eyes traveled across the waters shore, resting on the back of the familiar brunette, wearing a small bikini. She was walking between Sharpay and Taylor, jumping whenever the water came in contact with her skin. The invisible wind blew at him, carrying her angelic laughter. A smile played at the corners of his lips, as he watched the evening sun cast a dark glow on her hour glass figure. He stared at her, barely acknowledging Chad's presence beside him.

"She's so beautiful." He whispered to himself.

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**A/N: Please review.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I'm so excited; "JONAS" and "Sonny with a chance" are coming soon!!!!! And to top it off, school starts soon, sadly that means less updates. Sorry. This is kind of like a musical chapter. Okay, so I'm not so sure I got the lyrics right for "Send it on" right, feel free to correct me, and for any of the other songs too. And also, the second verse, I'm not sure if it's Demi or Selena that sings with Joe, I saw the video a while back and I forgot. And, I decided not to let any of the HSM characters sing. Sorry, I wasn't in the mood**

"**Send it on"-Demi, Selena, Miley, Nick Joe, and Kevin.**

"**Find yourself in you"-Everlife**

"**Faded"-The Veronicas**

"**Chemicals react"-Aly and AJ**

"**2 stars"-Tess Tyler (Meaghan Jette Martin)**

"**What it takes"-Lola Scott (Aaryn Doyle)**

**ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

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Gabriella tapped her fingers impatiently against the hard mahogany table. She gazed around the crowded room in search of Taylor and Sharpay. She leaned against the counter top, pretending to be engrossed in Jessica Origliasso's explanation of the time she and Lisa performed on set of some show. She sighed and ran her fingers through her dark waves, listening to the loud "pitter-patter" of the raindrops against the roof of the mess hall. She played anxiously with the hem of the dark blue tank she wore over the plain white tee. She stretched the denim covering her legs lower, feeling self-conscious.

"Hey, are you okay?" a deep voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up at the familiar bushy-haired African-American basket ball player, dressed in a lime green shirt with a senseless phrase etched across his chest, and khaki shorts.

"Hey, Chad," She smiled up at him as he wrapped a friendly arm around her thin shoulders. "Have you seen Taylor?"

"No, but if you find her tell her I'll give her the money back once I pay Evans and Gray." Gabriella giggled and ruffled his hair playfully.

"So, how's Troy?" She queried, looking down awkwardly. Her stomach twisted as the familiar name rolled off her tongue. She felt Chad tense beside her. He patted her head lightly.

"He's been worse." He muttered.

"Danforth" Chad jumped as his arm fell from around Gabriella's shoulder. He turned towards the fuming brunette, her dark hand resting on her cocked hip. Gabriella giggled beside him. "Where's my money?" Chad held his hands up in defense.

"Look, I will pay you back, but I've got to pay Shane first." He mumbled quickly. Taylor arched her eyebrows at him, "Then I'll pay you. I promise."

"You said that two weeks ago." She snapped. She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the tightly packed crowd. "You will pay Shane, and I will get my money today." She stated firmly. Gabriella sighed,

"Here she comes, and there she goes." She muttered silently to herself, pushing her body off the food stacked counter.

"I've told you a million times, stop talking to yourself." Sharpay snapped appearing beside her. She took a bite from the celery stick in her hand. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate this stuff?" she asked, glaring at the green vegetable in her hand. The pink spaghetti strap top hugged her upper body perfectly, the frilly bottom dangling just above the waist line of her bubble gum pink pleated skirt. The strappy silver heels on her made "click" sound whenever they hit the hardwood floor.

"Hmm only four thousand, five hundred times," She giggled.

"Well make that four thousand, five hundred and one; I hate celery." The blonde snapped, chucking the vegetable over her shoulder. "Anyhow, I heard you dumped Bolton after dating for only three seconds?" Gabriella's eyes widened as she gazed at Sharpay in bewilderment.

"Who told you _that_?"

"There are rumors going around the school about you and lunk-head. And you didn't tell _me_! Care to explain?"

"One thing is for sure, I am _not _dating Troy Bolton." She stated firmly. A million points formed in her head at how wrong the sentence sounded.

"Well everyone else thinks you are." Sarah muttered, appearing beside Sharpay, her straight blonde hair falling below her shoulders, covering her shoulders. Her yellow and white striped top covered the waist band of her dark blue faded skinny jeans. The bottoms of the jeans were scrunched into black _CONVERSE _sneakers. "It's the talk of the camp." Gabriella shook her head vigorously. "I overheard a few girls plotting to break you two up."

"Why would they think I'm dating _him_?!"

"Well, some girls say they saw him making out with you after dumping Anisa, others say you guys have been dating ever since your lake incident, and the rest just say you two would make a _cute _couple, which I think is true." Sarah picked a chicken nugget from the large bowl sitting not far from them on the table.

"Yeah, I'm with Sarah on that one." Sharpay agreed, eying the nugget hungrily.

"I am not dating that egotistical, lunk-headed, jerk of a basketball captain."

"Well, that's not very nice, Ella." Her heart faltered in her chest at the sound of the familiar husky voice. A shiver raced up her spine as he rested a lazy arm around her thin shoulders. She subconsciously leaned into his side, drinking in his cologne, "Hey ladies."

Sharpay sent him a look of disgust. "Don't you 'hey' me!" she snapped, grabbing Sarah's clothed upper arm. "We'll see you later." She stalked off, dragging a protesting Sarah with her, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone.

"So, how have you been?" Troy broke the comfortable silence that followed the departure of the two blondes. He pulled her closer and pressed his warm lips against her ebony locks. Flames erupted in the pit of her stomach, engulfing her whole body. She moaned at the sensation and looked up at his face.

"O…okay," She choked, feeling the blood in the vessels redden. She felt a magnetic pull at her lips, as she leaned forward. Her coffee colored eyes traveled down to his pale thin lips. His eyelids fluttered closed as he leaned forward too. Just as their lips were a hair's width apart, Gabriella's lids flew open and she pushed herself away from him. A sigh escaped her scarlet parted lips. Troy opened his eyes, looking perplexed.

"Don't." she whispered. The two were so immersed with each other, that they didn't notice that every single eye in the room was on them…equals to, every single camper/counselor in Camp Redwood! Troy cupped the side of her face, his rugged thumb stroking her silky moist lips. She closed her eyes and let a low moan pass through her open lips. Troy shuddered as the warm breath landed on his thumb. Without warning, he shoved his lips against Gabriella's. She froze. But he didn't pull away; instead, he trailed his tongue across her bottom lip lightly, igniting another moan from her. His muscular arms locked around her waist and pulled her closer to him, crushing her fragile body against his. His tongue viciously parted her lips, and he took no time in tasting every corner of her warm cavern.

Gabriella pulled away, her eyes enlarged. She stared at the panting male before her, her breath coming out in short gasps. She nibbled on her swollen bottom lip. "I have to go." She mumbled, forgetting the loud thunderstorm taking place outside.

*£$%&*£$%&*£$%&*

"Okay, since we all will be camping in here today, I decided we can have some entertainment. How does a movie night sound?" A series of loud cheers floated through the excited campers at the counselors' request. "But first I think we can have a little talent show, you be the judges, winner, or winners, get to pick the movie!" the cheers increased.

"Okay, who's first?!" Hands flew up. The older counselors' dark eyes traveled across the front row. They landed on the Gray brothers. "You three"

"Um, we kind of wrote a son with Mitchie, Alex, and Miley. Can we sing with them?" Nate piped up quickly.

"That's fine. If you need anything, there are instruments in the back." The three brothers rushed backstage with Miley, Alex and Mitchie. The lights dimmed, as four really bright spotlights were turned on, brightening the dark stage.

As the six reappeared on stage, a few campers cheered. Nate and Miley approached the first mike, Mitchie and Shane took the second, leaving the third for Alex and Jason. Jason held a large guitar in his hands, whilst Nate had a smaller one. Miley opened her mouth and began singing, her low sweet voice filling the silent hall, as Nate and Jason began playing softly,

_A word's just a word till you mean what you say_

Nate joined in, his voice softer than Miley's,

**And love, isn't love till you give it away**

Miley started again, as Nate continued playing,

_We all gotta give, _

**Nate. **_Miley, __**Both, **__**All.**_

**There's something to give**

_**To make a change,**_

_**Send it on, on and on**_

_**Just one little thing then another**_

_**Be apart (be apart)**_

_**Reach a heart (reach a heart)**_

_**Just one spark starts a fire**_

_**Just one little action**_

_**The chain reaction **_

_**Will never stop**_

_**Make us strong, shine a light and **_

_**Send it on…**_

_Alex, _**Shane, **_**Both**_

_Just smile _

**Just smile**

_And the World_

**And the World**

_Will smile __**along with you…

* * *

**_

After the six finished their song, Sarah, Julia, and Amber Ross went up next, and sang a song called "_Find yourself in you"_,

_She never thought that she would_

_Get her second chance_

_Running so far from all she's ever known_

_But then she lost all meaning_

_Where did her dreams_

_Still she knew that there was something more_

_Don't be scared,_

_There's someone there_

_To say these words_

_You need to hear… _

They were followed by Lisa and Jessica;

_You never take; take the time to really look_

_Look at the one, the one I really am_

_You try to fit, to fit in the perfect box_

_You let me slip between the cracks_

_Now I'm faded, into someone else,_

_Baby someone I don't wanna be_

_Yeah, I'm faded, my true colors gone _

_Like the picture nobody sees…_

Then Sarah and Taylor Connors;

_You make me feel _

_Out of my element, like I'm walking on broken glass_

_Like my World's spinning in slow motion_

_And you're moving too fast_

_Were you right was I wrong_

_Were you weak was I strong_

_Yeah, both of us broken_

_We lived and we laughed and we hurt_

_And we jumped, yeah_

_But the planets all aligned _

_When you looked into my eyes,_

_Just like that_

_The chemicals react,_

_The chemicals react…_

Followed by Tess Tyler

_Wake up, when will things be good enough for you to see_

_All that we can be_

_I'm sick of, playing games_

_And acting like we never care_

_Like we're never there_

_We pay attention, for only seconds_

_Look at you, look at me,_

_There's never any us_

_Can't you see, all we can become_

_We can shine like the stars, _

_If we believe that two stars are brighter than one… _

And finally Lola Scott

_Who's got what it takes to be_

_My guy_

_What it takes t make me shine_

_What it takes to get me right up!_

_Who's got what it takes to be my beau _

_What it takes to make me glow_

_What it takes to make this beat flow!_

$Z*V$Z*V$Z*V$

In the end, "Send it on" **(A/N: I so LOVE that song!) **was voted #1, and it was up to the six to pick, which resulted to a lot of bickering, because Shane wanted to watch Action/Horror, Jason wanted Comedy, as did Alex, Nate was all up for Romance, Mitchie wanted Musical, and Miley wanted Western. She also somehow managed to get her boyfriend, Nate, on to her side. In the end they went with Action/Horror, much the counselors' Gabriella's, and Justin Russo's dismay.

She sighed as she snuggled deeper in her sleeping back, listening to the distant rain. She didn't want to make a fool of herself halfway through the movie, so her only other option was to sleep.

"Aww, are you scared?" she heard a mocking voice from behind her. She turned to face a smirking Troy.

"No, Troy." She snapped defensively. He chuckled and leaned closer.

"Come here." Gabriella's eyes widened as she realized he wanted her to get into his sleeping bag. She looked around them cautiously to make sure no one was watching, before sliding into Troy sleeping bag. She shuddered as her frozen body pressed against his. "Are you cold?" he asked. Gabriella nodded. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her closer to him, if that were even possible, molding her soft fragile body into his tough, hard one. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply.

"I know I've said this before, but… dammit, you smell so good." He growled silently, causing Gabriella to blush deeply. She buried her face deeper in his soft shirt. She was well aware of the large hand stroking the small of her to Troy, she could hear Taylor and Chad's "hissed" argument.

"…I will so kill you." Taylor snapped.

"…come on, Tay, it was just 20 bucks!" he complained.

"Yeah, just shut up and watch the movie."

"Do I get a kiss?" she could almost see Taylor slapping Chad in the face with her pillow, looking disgusted.

_With Sharpay_

The blonde smirked as she gazed at the magazine, ignoring the blasting speakers in the room.

"So true, Megan Fox is a total fake." she muttered to herself, glaring at the "model"

"I agree." She looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Her stomach did a swooping sensation, which she chose to ignore, as her hazel eyes locked with Zeke's dark brown ones. She glared at him and turned back to her magazine and flicked through the thin pages. "Is this space taken?" He asked, indicating to the empty space beside her.

"What's it look like, Sherlock" she snapped rhetorically not looking up.

"Danforth was so right; you are such a spoiled bitch." Zeke snarled settling into the space beside her. Sharpay paused and turned to face, trying o conceal the smile playing at her glossy pink lips with a look of anger.

"Excuse me?!"

"You. Are. A. Spoiled. Bitch." Zeke muttered through gritted teeth. She couldn't help it, the smile shown fully on her face.

"Do you have any cookies with you?" she pouted as Zeke gazed at her in shock. Reaching over to his duffel bag, he pulled out five HUGE cookies wrapped neatly in foil. Sharpay giggled and leaned forward, taking the cookies from his dark hand. "By the way, you're cute when you're mad." She whispered and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. Zeke blushed and touched the skin she had just kissed.

"Wow…" he whispered, and turned to watch the gruesome movie, looking at the blonde occasionally and moving closer to her.

_With Troy and Gabriella_

Troy listened wordlessly to Gabriella's even breathing, smiling to himself as he realized she was sleeping. He looked down at her relaxed face lovingly and pressed a long kiss to her forehead. He sighed and turned towards the large screen. At first, all he could make out were misshapen creatures, but then his vision cleared, and he began to find the movie _quite _interesting.

"Aaaahhh!" he heard a whimper. He looked towards the sound and saw Justin holding, what looked like a mutated bear, tightly to his chest and burying his face in his pillow, looking horrified. Troy smiled; he quickly glanced at the sleeping brunette in his arms, then to the screen.

Gabriella's silent voice cut through his thoughts.

"I love you…"

* * *

**A/N: Review, pretty please with chocolate and cheese. **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Here is another chapter of "Camp Redwood"! ENJOY!!! And review. **

"_I love you……"_

Troy gulped as he gawked at the sleeping girl beside him. His first thought was to wake her up and thoroughly interrogate her. But he decided against it. He turned back to the dimming screen, barely taking in the images and scenes.

_Who was she talking about? Even more, who was she talking _to_?_

*BIOLOGY IS THE BEST*

The sound of loud voices and many footsteps woke Gabriella, the following morning. Her eyelids fluttered open, only to be forced back down by the luminous light of the sun pouring in through the open windows of the large mess hall. She let out a yawn, before forcing her heavy lids open. Something beneath her rumbled and moved. She jumped in fright, only to be forced back down to the groaning creature, "five more minutes' mom." The familiar voice grunted. Gabriella giggled as Troy tightened his arms around her. She finally managed to wiggle free from his iron grasp, and patted his shoulder,

"Troy wakey-wakey," she whispered quietly. Troy moaned something incoherent before turning away from her. She smiled and stood up, her bones cracking slightly. She looked around for Taylor and Sharpay. She found Sharpay, still sleeping in her bright magenta sparkled sleeping bag, her mouth hanging open slightly. She guessed Taylor was already up and about…somewhere.

Gabriella grabbed her things and was about to make her way to the front doors when Taylor Connors stopped her, telling her it was best if she didn't go out. "There are a few showers over there at the back." The blonde told her. Gabriella smiled and thanked her before rushing off towards the girls' showers.

After a hurried shower, she pulled on her large light blue shirt, which she had stolen from Troy's room, and one of his many basket ball shorts, which stopped just below her knees. She braided her dripping hair into two messy French braids. Satisfied with her look, she exited the bathroom.

Gabriella giggled when she noticed Troy was still sleeping. She sat beside him. Unable to resist, she lightly ran her fingers through his hair, forgetting that she was surrounded by the whole camp. Troy's eyes opened slightly and a crooked grin played at his lips, "morning." He yawned, stretching, "sleep well?" Gabriella nodded,

"You still tired?" she teased.

"Hey I wouldn't be if someone hadn't kept me up all night _talking_!" he defended, his mind traveling back to the _"I love you"_.

Gabriella blushed, "sorry."

Troy yawned again and his eyelids fluttered closed. "I'll leave you to sleep."Gabriella whispered knowing he barely heard her. She stood up and decided to walk around, looking for her friends.

She noticed quite a lot of campers were still asleep, wrapped tightly in their sleeping bags. Gabriella cringed as she noticed Derek a little way off, joking around with his friends. She remembered begging Troy not to tell anyone, including the counselors', about her encounter with Derek Rogers. She still had a few bruises from the fight, but they were fading slowly. She found she'd been dizzy occasionally since nearly drowning in the lake, and waking up in the middle of the night from vivid nightmares, both from nearly drowning and of Derek. Without warning, Derek looked up, and their eyes instantaneously locked. Gabriella felt a cold, hair rising shiver travel down her stiff spine. She noticed the way his thin lips twisted up into a smirk, which caused her to grimace.

She prayed silently that Troy would wake up, or at least someone she was close to would come and rescue her. The grimace turned to fright as Derek started hastily making his way towards her. She felt herself relax slightly as she remembered they were in a room full of people, so he wouldn't try anything. _Or maybe everyone in this room is mindless zombie! Under his control!_

Gabriella almost laughed out loud at the insane thoughts running through her head. She _knew_ he wouldn't try anything in a room full of people, but she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of unease.

Derek had a wide yet nervous smile on his face when he stopped in front of her. Gabriella instinctively stepped back and avoided his eyes. "Um, hey?" seeing as she didn't respond but only edged farther away from him, he continued, "I can see you're a little tense around me." He paused, waiting to see if she would comment. She didn't, she stood frozen, like an ice sculpture. "That's what I wanted to apologize for. I don't know what came over me; I'm usually not like that. I guess it was just jealousy, or maybe something else. But I'm really, really sorry. I just want to know if we can start fresh, all over again, like that night never happened." He gazed nervously at her frozen face, "I really like you, and I never meant to hurt you like I did. You seem like a cool person." Gabriella flinched slightly at the word "hurt". "I'm sorry. A thousand apologies"

Gabriella stared at him. He looked sorry. Or at least it looked like he did. She opened her mouth to speak but found no sound could come out.

"Back off, buster!" Sharpay's voice snapped from behind her. The blonde stood beside her friend, clutching her pillow as though it were a weapon she was about to use. "I am so not afraid to use this on you if you touch her."

"Hey Derek, what can we help you with?" Taylor asked in a sweet yet dangerous voice.

"Thank you, but I think I can handle this alone." Gabriella interjected in annoyance.

"We'll be watching, okay." Taylor whispered to Gabriella before her and Sharpay wandered off into the crowd.

Derek shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I'm sorry…again."

"No, I'm sorry Derek; I thought you were a nice guy when I first met you. And I'm sorry things didn't work out between us. But I just can't trust you yet." Gabriella managed. Derek looked disappointed,

"That's understandable." He sighed sadly. Something in his tone and attitude made Gabriella feel slightly on edge and unable to trust the guy.

BIOLOGY!

**A/N: Sorry it's so short, I won't be able to update a lot until after the 24****th**** of October. My annoying BFF convinced me to join a dance thing they'll be doing for this celebration on the 24****th****. Review! **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I redid chapter one, I wasn't very happy with it, and I think I'll be redoing some other chapters. And also chapter seven for "my best friend or my boyfriend?" has been rewritten too, check it out! Sorry. I know it takes me forever to update, but some of us have parents who don't like technology. I'm not allowed T.V. or laptops, computers, internet or movies during school days and this has been going on since I was born! And on Friday's I just want to read but I also have to type so it's hard. **

**Enjoy!**

Nearly a week later…

The girl's plan to pull a second prank on the guys had backfired, leaving the three covered in sticky and stinky slime, which took hours to get off. Sharpay hadn't taken too well to the guys little 'payback prank' and kept herself locked in the cabin for hours, skipping out on camp activities, and sulking for the rest of the day.

Gabriella hadn't told anyone about her and Derek's little conversation, even when Taylor and Sharpay had tried to get her to talk moments after Derek left. She decided to keep it between him and her, and not tell anyone especially Troy.

With the end of summer nearing, Gabriella barely saw Troy; he was hardly in the cabin. She usually saw him walking into the overgrown redwood forest, off the camp grounds. Chad said that he had found a spot where he'd go to and spend most of his free time, but that was all he knew. The last time she had actually spoken to Troy was when he had last kissed her which had been a total mistake. She felt bad. He was trying, she could tell but something in her wasn't ready to agree to him yet. Zeke had managed to get a part time job in the kitchen, so he missed out on some of the camp activities. According to Sharpay, since Zeke had started helping out in the kitchen the food was a lot better, and Sharpay rarely ever commented on anyone's cooking, if she did, let's just say that cooking for Ms. Evans is out of the question; for all eternity.

Taylor had joined a series of the camp's study groups, and with the end of summer nearing campers were beginning to take the studying a lot more seriously. And Taylor was helping with the tutoring. She spent most of her free time, which was mostly in the evenings around sunset, tutoring the "lowest common denominator" as Chad called them, "Meaning you." Taylor had retorted smirking at Chad's face. Gabriella had decided she would help out a bit.

"So 'x' is…?" Gabriella and a group of campers were sitting out in the open lunch/hangout area by the lake. She was tutoring, but only a few were actually paying attention. Unfortunately, she had Zack Martin in her tutoring class. Easy addition; Zack plus school equal…uh oh.

Zack, at that moment was trying to balance a pencil on the tip of his tongue—gross—and was failing miserably. Gabriella had chosen to ignore the blond twin entirely, except when he asked almost sensible questions, which of course was really rare. A hand shot up immediately,

"2.5!" Gabriella smiled and wrote the answer in the mini blackboard sitting on the picnic bench beside her.

A little way off, Troy pushed himself out of the icy water. He smiled to himself as he watched Gabriella's tutoring session. He tore his eyes away from the brunette to gaze at the sunset. Three more weeks and he would be back in Albuquerque. Somehow, he wasn't excited and not because it meant school, but for other reasons. Reasons he found quite strange.

His gaze travelled back to Gabriella's class. Cinnamon met aquamarine. She sent him a wide smile-- which he gladly returned-- before turning back to the class and said something Troy couldn't hear from where he was. Almost immediately, the younger campers grabbed their things and hurried off in different directions. Gabriella held a finger up at Troy indicating that he should wait for her. Troy smiled and ruffled his damp hair with his towel.

Nearly a minute later, Gabriella was standing beside him smiling shyly.

"Hey."

"Hey" he replied in the same tone as hers. It had been a while since they had actually said "hey" or "hi" to each other so it felt slightly weird for both. Gabriella suddenly felt like blurting out her little encounter with Derek out to Troy but quickly shut herself up. "How have you been?" Troy questioned trying to start a conversation that had no trace of awkwardness. Gabriella smiled and nodded, "fine. What about you?"

Troy shrugged. They began walking towards the mess hall. "I've been better." He looked at her. An awkward silence hung over them. After a while, Troy spoke breaking the silence. "Do you still have that dog…um, what was his name…Midnight?"

"Oh… you mean Shadow?" Troy nodded a smile playing at his lips as he thought. "He is lazy as ever. I think age is catching up with him." She giggled. Troy chuckled. "You were always afraid of him, even when he was as small as my foot!" she teased him playfully. Troy blushed,

"I had bad experiences with dogs" he defended himself, "so you shouldn't tease me about that. Plus I was young."

"Right." Gabriella laughed again, her laughter growing when she noticed Troy tomato colored face. "Whatever you say, Troy." She giggled again.

"You're one to talk. Remember the time we went to the park with your mom and that frog jumped on your foot. You cried for hours."

"I'm a girl. It's natural, and I was four!"

"Whatever you say, Ella" Troy mimicked her earning a small slap on the bicep from Gabriella. "G*d, you're still violent!" Troy complained childishly. It felt weird. Neither had talked about their childhood friendship since Gabriella had come back from Arizona, they had never actually talked; only argued. Neither knew what had caused them to change their attitude so suddenly and they were sure they wouldn't find out. A few minutes later, Troy and Gabriella were sitting with the rest of the gang from their cabin, after Troy had managed to escape a bunch of girls trying to get him to sit with them. He and Chad were goofing off with the spaghetti, pretending to pull the pasta out from their noses. Zeke was still in the kitchen he had told them he would be out soon. Gabriella was supposed to be part of Taylor and Sharpay's conversation but found her eyes and mind straying over to Troy. Once he had caught her staring at him and they both blushed and looked away. They both found the new shyness strange yet comforting. Troy was still trying to think of ways he could prove to Gabriella that he had changed but each had been turned down by him. He had to think of a special and unique way.

The sound of a metal spoon banging against a glass brought him out of his thoughts and he looked up from his plate of spaghetti.

One of the counselors sitting at the head table stood up. He looked like a college student. "Okay. As you all know School starts in less than a month." He paused as the murmuring began, "and all this will be coming to an end. So we have decided to throw you guys a little goodbye party." The volume of the murmurings increased drastically.

"Is it going to be a hot party or one of those… parties?" a guy in the back asked. An older counselor spoke this time.

"We will let you have your fun but if things go too far we will have to interfere." This was soon followed by disappointed groans.

"Then what's the point of throwing a party when we can't what we want?" another asked. The counselors at the head table started to look uncomfortable.

"We don't want a wild party, but we will let you have your fun" The same person spoke. Some still looked unsatisfied but they kept quiet. "It's better than nothing" someone said quietly and a few people close to the person grumbled in agreement.

"Awesome! A party" Chad exclaimed once the noise in the mess hall had resumed. "It's been a while." Sharpay snorted rudely.

"You excited, Gabs?" Taylor questioned Gabriella.

"Taylor! I thought you knew me better? I've never been one for parties. Never have; and never will."

"Come, Gab" Sharpay spoke it's just this one party. You have to come. It's a _goodbye party_!" Sharpay pouted, "Please?"

"I'll think about it." Gabriella sighed in defeat.

"I'll think about it" ended up being "I'll go" and that's how Gabriella found herself standing alone by the drinks table playing boredly with her can of Mountain Dew. Taylor and Sharpay were way by the lake talking to some guys and a few girls. She hadn't been in the mood to mingle with others so she stayed where she was, fidgeting with her outfit. She hadn't wanted to bring it with her from Albuquerque but her mom was like "just in case" and Sharpay said it was perfect, which London replied, "Eh, I've seen better. On me!" and laughed at her own joke. Gabriella had decided to wear a knitted cardigan over the midnight blue halter neck since it was already evening and still cold even with a huge fire the size of a bungalow five meters from where she stood. Her blue jeans were faded and a good choice since it helped to keep her warm.

"You look nice."

She looked up at the sound of a male voice. A smile splayed across her face.

"Thanks. You do too." She said to Troy. He was wearing and sky blue buttoned shirt with the top two undone and jeans. His hair was in its usual way; untidy.

"Why aren't you part of the party?" he asked raising his drink to his lips and taking a sip.

"I'm not really one for parties." Gabriella admitted tearing her gaze away from Troy. He chuckled to himself. "What?"

"Inside joke." He said in a teasing voice. "But you look really beautiful."

Gabriella blushed. Their eyes locked for a millisecond before Gabriella broke the stare. "Do you want to go somewhere quiet?" he asked. Gabriella nodded and felt her words dissolve in her throat as he took her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. She was dying to kiss him, again. But they had just started a new friendship all over again and she didn't want to ruin it so holding hands or just talking would have to satisfy her… for now.

Troy led her to a place not far away from where the party actually was but it was quiet, no more "boom boom pow" echoing in Gabriella's ears. Troy let go of her hand a little too soon for her liking and looked down at her. "I meant what I said. You look really beautiful." Gabriella blushed. He just crossed a friendship line. Three times! He had said it THREE TIMES!!!

"Thank you." She stammered awkwardly. What else could she say? She glanced back at the party which was in full swing. "I can't believe we'll be back in Albuquerque in one week. I feel like I live here."

Troy smiled, "I know the feeling."

"I wonder how things are going to be back at home in Albuquerque." Gabriella whispered more to herself than to Troy. She looked up at him. He looked slightly nervous. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, "let's go back. It's getting cold." He squeaked and stumbled on his words. Gabriella comfortingly rubbed his bare arm, "you sure you're okay?" again he nodded and began turning back towards the camp. She didn't know what came over her. It was like sudden burst of adrenaline. It came so fast she couldn't stop it as she ran up to Troy and flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his well-built chest inhaling deeply. Troy's arms wound around her and he pressed his cheek against the top of her head. This wasn't a 'friend' hug, but it felt right.

**A/N: As always, REVIEW!**


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